Liaoning Court Sentences Author Zheng Yichun to Seven Years Imprisonment for Inciting Subversion

September 29, 2005

The Intermediate People's Court in Yingkou, Liaoning province, has sentenced Chinese author Zheng Yichun to seven years imprisonment and three years deprivation of political rights for inciting subversion of the state's political power, according to articles posted on the Web sites of Radio Free Asia, the Epoch Times, and Boxun on September 22. These articles reported that the primary charges listed in the court's judgment were:

The Intermediate People's Court in Yingkou, Liaoning province, has sentenced Chinese author Zheng Yichun to seven years imprisonment and three years deprivation of political rights for inciting subversion of the state's political power, according to articles posted on the Web sites of Radio Free Asia, the Epoch Times, and Boxun on September 22. These articles reported that the primary charges listed in the court's judgment were:

  • From April 2003 through December 2004 Zheng posted 77 articles on the Epoch Times Web site that included contents that incited subversion of the state's political power. The court cited two articles in particular- "Collective Indictment of the Communist Party," and "The Ten Great Systematic Lies That Rule China" - and said these resulted in Zheng being accused of "adopting the method of spreading rumors and slanders to attack the Chinese political system."
  • Zheng had received 20,000 yuan in compensation for his essays.
  • Zheng had conducted e-mail and telephone correspondence with Tang Qing of the Epoch Times to arrange payment for, and selection of, the essays.

The court said it deemed his crime to be "severe" because the number of essays with contents inciting subversion of the state's power was large, and the essays had a "malicious influence inside the country." Zheng stated in court that he would appeal.

In March 2005, several human rights groups, including the Independent Chinese PEN Center, Reporters Without Borders, and the Committee to Protect Journalists, expressed concern about Zheng's detention. Zheng's family had reported that public security officers initially detained him on December 3, 2004, and notified them on December 31, 2004 that he had been arrested and charged with inciting subversion. A September 22 report by the Committee to Protect Journalists cited Zheng's brother as saying Zheng is diabetic, and has not received adequate treatment in prison.

Reporters Without Borders reported on September 23 that local authorities detained for six hours a U.S. journalist who tried to attend Zheng's July 21 trial, and released him only after he signed a "confession" admitting unauthorized activity on Chinese soil.

Zheng was one of at least five journalists that Chinese authorities arrested between December 2004 and March 2005, including Shi Tao, Yang Tianshui, and Li Boguang, when Chinese authorities launched a crackdown on public intellectuals. In July 2005, a court in Bengbu, Anhui province sentenced Zhang Lin, another writer arrested during that crackdown, to five years imprisonment for inciting subversion.