New Youth Study Group Members To Become Eligible for Parole

Xu Wei and Jin Haike, sentenced to 10-year prison terms for participating in occasional meetings of the New Youth Study Group, a discussion group of young intellectuals, and for disseminating articles over the Internet, will become eligible for parole on March 13. Yang Zili and Zhang Honghai, two other prisoners sentenced for their participation in the group, became eligible for parole on March 13 of last year.

The New Youth Study Group met at several Beijing universities, but had no source of funding, never agreed on a common political platform, and after their first meeting never held another with all members present, according to a April 23, 2004, Washington Post article.

On May 28, 2003, the Beijing No. 1 Intermediate People's Court sentenced Xu Wei, a reporter and editor, and Jin Haike, a geophysicist, to 10 years imprisonment for their participation in the discussion group, according to the court's criminal judgment, the Dui Hua Foundation, and a June 3, 2003, Reporters Without Borders report. The court sentenced computer engineer Yang Zili and writer Zhang Honghai to eight years imprisonment. State security officials detained the four on March 13, 2001. The local procuratorate indicted the four on August 29, 2001, according to a Human Rights in China translation of the indictment. Their trial opened on September 28, 2001. The court postponed the trial, however, and over 18 months passed before the intermediate court convicted them on May 28, 2003.

The court found all four guilty of "establishing an organization, proposing to change China's system of government, distributing proposals over the Internet that call for social change, criticizing the existing system, and denying the leadership of the Communist Party." The court also convicted them of "subversion of state power," a crime under Article 105(1) of the Criminal Law. They are being held at the Beijing No. 2 Prison. Sentences for Xu and Jin expire March 12, 2011, those for Yang and Zhang expire on March 12, 2009.

Under Article 81 of the Criminal Law, officials have discretion to grant parole to a prisoner after he or she has served half of a fixed-term imprisonment sentence. A prisoner’s chances for parole improve if he or she has observed prison regulations, accepted education and reform through labor, showed repentance, and will no longer cause harm to society. Under Article 44 of the Criminal Law, this term is calculated from the date of detention if the prisoner has been held in detention before the court judgment takes effect. As a result, Xu and Jin will become eligible for parole on March 13, 2006. (Yang and Zhang became eligible for parole on March 13, 2005.) On January 1, the Beijing municipal government put into effect six prohibitions restraining prison police abuses, as well as "Temporary Provisions on Investigating Responsibility for Mistakes in Law Enforcement by People's Prison Police" (Beijing Provisions). According to a December 15, 2005, Beijing Daily article (via Xinhua, in Chinese), the Beijing Provisions subject Beijing prison police to such sanctions as warnings or dismissal for intentionally failing to declare a sentence reduction or parole for inmates who meet the criteria.

See below for additional background on Jin Haike, Xu Wei, Yang Zili, and Zhang Honghai, as well as a timeline of events leading up to their imprisonment.

BACKGROUND

TIMELINE
May 1999: Officials from the Ministry of State Security contact Li Yuzhou, and ask him about an unemployed teacher who had been denouncing the United States over the NATO bombing of the Chinese Embassy in Belgrade and blasting the Communist Party for not standing up to it. [WP]

May 20, 2000: Xu Wei, Jin Haike, and Zhang Honghai [TV]/[ID] and Fan Erjun [RFA (2005-09-30)] met in Jin Haike's dorm at the Beijing Geological Engineering and Prospecting Institute and established the "New Youth Study Group."

August 19, 2000: Yang Zili [ID], Huang Haixia, and Li Yuzhou [RFA (2005-09-30)] join the "New Youth Study Group."

September 2000: Officials from the Beijing State Security Bureau question Jin Haike. According to the Washington Post, they questioned him several times, "asking about the New Youth Study Group and its ties with the China Democracy Party. They also informed his employer that he was under investigation and tried to persuade him to spy on his friends." [WP] Jin told the appeals court, however, that he did not raise the issue of the New Youth Study Group because he felt it might "result in bad things happening" to him. [XWAP - Testimony of Jin Haike]

October 2000: Jin Haike proposed that the members distribute their essays and hold discussions on Yang Zili's private Web site "Yangzi's Ideology Garden." [TV - based on testimony of Fan Erjun]

Jin Haike, Zhang Honghai, and Fan Erjun agree to dissolve the group out of concern that state security authorities are investigating them. [XWAP - Citing March 27, 2001 deposition by Fan Erjun]

March 8-9, 2001: Jin Haike contacts Fan Erjun and says he wants to call an urgent meeting of the group because he believes police are preparing a wave of arrests. Fan seeks advice from a party official at his university whom he considered a mentor. That night, the man summoned Fan to his office. Officials from the Ministry of State Security are waiting for him there and interrogate Fan Erjun. [WP]

March 13, 2001: Officials from the Beijing State Security Bureau detain Xu Wei, Jin Haike, Yang Zili, and Zhang Honghai in Beijing. [TV]/[ID]

Officials from the Beijing State Security Bureau also detain Yang's wife, Lu Kun, forced her into a small car and took her to one of the ministry's detention houses with her head covered by a cloth bag. They interrogated her for three days, demanding information about her husband's friends and their activities. [WP]

State Security officials also detain Zhang Yanhua in Tianjin and interrogate him for about 10 hours per day for almost 30 days. [WP]

March 27, 2001: Chinese authorities interrogate Fan Erjun. [XWAP]

March 28, 2001: Chinese authorities interrogate Fan Erjun. [XWAP]

April 2001: Chinese authorities interrogate Fan Erjun two more times. [WP]

April 15, 2001: Chinese authorities interrogate Huang Haixia. [XWAP]

April 20, 2001: The Beijing State Security Bureau arrests Xu Wei, Jin Haike, Yang Zili, and Zhang Honghai. [TV]/[ID]

August 29, 2001: Bejing Municipal People's Procuratorial Office First Division indicts Xu Wei, Jin Haike, Yang Zili, and Zhang Honghai. [ID]

September 10, 2001: Bejing Municipal People's Procuratorial Office First Division files indictment with the Beijing No. 1 Intermediate People's Court. [TV]

September 19, 2001: Families of accused receive a copy of the indictment. [HRIC (2001-07-26)]

September 26, 2001: The Beijing No. 1 Intermediate People's Court postpones the trial, which was originally scheduled to commence that day. [AFP (2001-09-26)]

September 28, 2001: The Beijing No. 1 Intermediate People's Court holds the first hearing in the case. The hearing lasts four hours.

February 2002: Liu Xiaobo and other activists send an open letter to the Beijing High People's Court calling for the release of Xu Wei, Jin Haike, Yang Zili, and Zhang Honghai. [AFP (2002-02-09)]

June 2002: Li Yuzhou flies to Thailand. [WP]

July 8, 2002: Li Yuzhou applies for refugee status at an office of the United Nations in Thailand. [WP]

February 2003: The Beijing No. 1 Intermediate People's Court resumes the trial. [DH (2003-03-17)]

April 20, 2003: Beijing Municipal People's Procuratorial Office First Division files "supplementary materials," and the Beijing No. 1 Intermediate People's Court convenes a second hearing in the case. [WP] [RFA (2005-09-30)] For the first time, prosecutors presented four handwritten reports submitted by Li Yuzhou while he was working for the Ministry of State Security. [WP]

May 28, 2003: Beijing No. 1 Intermediate People's Court sentences Xu Wei and Jin Haike to 10 years imprisonment and 2 years deprivation of political rights, and Yang Zili and Zhang Honghai to 8 years imprisonment and 2 years deprivation of political rights. [TV]

Xu Wei begins hunger strike. [RSF (2003-06-03)]

May 31, 2003: Mo Shaoping, Xu Wei's attorney, visits Xu Wei to persuade him to end his hunger strike. Xu agrees to resume water, but continued to refuse food until at least June 3, 2003. [RSF (2003-06-03)]

November 3, 2003: Beijing High People's Court hears the appeal of Xu Wei, Jin Haike, Yang Zili, and Zhang Honghai. [RFA (2005-09-30)] Fan Erjun, Huang Haixia, and Zhang Yanhua arrive at the court to testify on behalf of their friends, but the court refused to let them in. The three sat on the curb and wrote a statement defending their friends and denying the New Youth Study Group ever intended to overthrow the government. The court refused to accept it. [WP]

November 10, 2003: Beijing High People's Court upholds the convictions and sentences of Xu Wei, Jin Haike, Yang Zili, and Zhang Honghai. [RFA (2005-09-30)]