Rights Group: Chinese Authorities Continue to Detain Writer Zhang Lin After Administrative Detention Ends

February 16, 2005

Chinese police informed democracy activist Zhang Lin’s wife that he is being held in what the Chinese authorities call "criminal detention" for threatening state security, just as he was to be released from two weeks of administrative detention, according to a report from Reporters Without Borders (RSF). A Chinese language version of this story is available from Boxun. Chinese authorities regularly use charges of threatening state security to silence critics of the Communist Party and the government. Additional information on this topic is also available on the CECC Web site's Freedom of Expression section.

RSF reported about Zhang’s administrative detention in a February 8 release. China's administrative detention system violates internationally recognized human rights norms not only because suspects are not entitled to a court trial but also because in practice public security officials serve as investigator, prosecutor, and judge, with virtually no judicial oversight. [See the Criminal Justice section of the CECC 2004 Annual Report for more information on administrative detention in China.]