Can you imagine being imprisoned for ten years for something you wrote on this website? What if you wrote a blog that disapproved of your country, or that promoted another type of government? What would do you if you were jailed? What could you do?
Chinese journalist Shi Tao is currenlty serving ten years in prison for using his Yahoo! account to email a United States-based pro-democracy website in April of 2004. In this email, Tao wrote about the 1989 ban on pro-democracy activities, and how his government was ordering the media to overlook the upcoming 15th Anniversary of the democracy crackdown. When Chinese authorities tracked down his email by seeking information from his Yahoo! account, police arrested and charged him with "illegally providing state secrets to foregin entities" in November of that year.
China has imposed censorship over internet activities by ensuring that all electronically sent documents are screened through government-controlled censors. In addition, the nation denies its citizens from accessing certain threatening websites that contain subversive words such as "democracy," "freeodm," and "Human rights."
What can be done about the unjust imprisonment of Shi Tao and other Chinese journalist and democracy fighters? Send a letter to the prison which Shi Tao is locked in, and flood the mail with letters demanding freedom for Shi Tao. The address to send letters is listed below. The more letters, the better! Free a prisoner of Words with our Democratic Words!
Prime Minister of the People’s Republic of China
Wen Jiabao Guojia Zongli
The State Council
9 Xihuangcheng Genbeijie
Beijingshi 100032
PEOPLE’S REPUBLIC OF CHINA
airmail postage: 84 cents
via email: gazette@mail.gov.cn
What are some other methods for freeing prisoners arrested under unjust charges? Please get in touch with Human Rights organizations such as Amnesty International and check out this article for more information about worldwide threats to bloggers: http://news.amnesty.org/index/ENGPOL300552006
To read about an Egyptian man in a similar situation, go to
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/business/1700AP_Egypt_Blogger.html
ooh, and to hear about how some people want to do the same to us, go to
http://www.grassrootsfreedom.com/gw3/articles-home/articles.php?action=view&CMSArticleID=398&CMSCategoryID=24
Nicholas Aden
It's a shame really to not be able to any sort of free speech, but these things are nothing new in China and other countries. Also, they can't really defend themselves, because no lawyer is brave enough to take human rights cases for fear of being harassed by their government.
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"They can smash your cookie, but you'll always get your fortune."
My blog
It may not be anything new in China, but unfortunately, we may have to face that same reality soon here in America. Keep on your toes, and have your reps email addresses handy.
Maybe no lawyer wants to take up human rights there because they are a nation that has undermined the individual for the "good" of the whole. For instance, they have forced abortions on hundreds of moms for the past three decades, and now they are reaping what they have been sowing... a huge discrepancy in male and female populations.
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"Lord, make my words as sweet as honey, for tomorrow, I may have to eat them."