China's First 'cyber-dissident' Faces Trial
Sumaira FH Published January 14, 2019 | 04:08 PM
China's first "cyber-dissident", whose website reported on sensitive topics including human rights, is expected to go on trial on Monday amid fears he is in bad health, sources familiar with the matter told AFP
Beijing, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 14th Jan, 2019 ) :China's first "cyber-dissident", whose website reported on sensitive topics including human rights, is expected to go on trial on Monday amid fears he is in bad health, sources familiar with the matter told AFP.
Huang Qi was arrested in 2016 for "leaking state secrets" and has since been held at the Mianyang Detention Centre in southwestern Sichuan province -- his home region -- without a trial date.
Calls to the Mianyang Mianyang Intermediate People's Court, which is handling the case, went unanswered.
"American diplomats attempted to attend Huang Qi's trial but were denied access to the courtroom," a US embassy spokesperson told AFP.
Several activists who said they were travelling to Mianyang to attend the trial sent photos and videos to AFP showing police stopping them en route Monday morning.
Huang ran a website called "64 Tianwang" -- named after the bloody June 4, 1989 crackdown on Tiananmen Square pro-democracy protesters.
The site, which has reported on local corruption, human rights violations, and other topics rarely seen in ordinary Chinese media, is blocked on the mainland.
A volunteer at "64 Tianwang" told AFP that he was taken away "on holiday" Saturday by Sichuan police, who cited the cyber-dissident's trial that was due to start this week.
"I am worried (for his safety)," the volunteer said on condition of anonymity. "But Huangqi is very proud, he won't surrender.
" The volunteer was told he would be released once the trial was over.
Mianyang police did not answer AFP's calls for a comment.
Chinese police in recent years have muzzled dissent by whisking away activists and holding them in a hotel room during sensitive events, giving rise to the term "being travelled".
Fourteen non-profit organisations, including Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and Freedom House, released a statement last November saying Huang was in danger of dying in police custody if he does not receive medical treatment for a host of severe health conditions.
Huang suffers from high blood pressure and late-stage kidney disease, but his mother Pu Wenqing's attempts to get medical bail were denied in the past.
Huang's work has repeatedly drawn the ire of Chinese authorities.
In 2009, he was sentenced to three years in prison after campaigning for parents of children killed in the 2008 Sichuan earthquake, which left nearly 87,000 people dead or missing and authorities facing huge public anger over shoddy building construction.
Five years later Huang and at least three citizen journalists who contribute to 64 Tianwang were detained by police after the site reported on a woman who set herself on fire in Tiananmen Square.
The website was awarded a Reporters Without Borders prize in early November of 2016. A few weeks later, Huang was detained in his hometown of Chengdu, according to Amnesty International.
Related Topics
Recent Stories
HEC reviews curricula for environmental sciences degree programme
ICC Asia looking forward to an action-packed Asia Cricket Week
Yuvraj Singh named ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024 Ambassador
Greece hands Olympic flame to 2024 Paris Games hosts
Two Kyiv hospitals evacuating over feared Russian strikes
World must act on neurotech revolution, say experts
Charles & Catherine's cancer diagnoses
Champions Alcaraz and Sabalenka through in Madrid Open
King Charles to resume some public duties during cancer treatment: palace
US defense chief announces $6 bn in security aid for Ukraine
Heavy rains cause damage to Spezand-Taftan railway track
Woman stabbed in Israel, attacker killed: police
More Stories From World
-
NFL will allow players to wear Guardian Cap helmets in games
19 minutes ago -
Football: German Bundesliga table
19 minutes ago -
Football: Italian Serie A result
19 minutes ago -
Football: German Bundesliga results
19 minutes ago -
US troops to leave Chad in second African state withdrawal
20 minutes ago -
Plastics pollution may be solved without production cap: Canada minister
30 minutes ago
-
Biden stalls on menthol cigarette ban fearing Black vote backlash
39 minutes ago -
Champions Alcaraz and Sabalenka through in Madrid Open
39 minutes ago -
6,000 French police to welcome Olympic torch amid bonus boost
60 minutes ago -
Taiwan hit by several quakes, strongest reaching 6.1-magnitude
1 hour ago -
'Ballistic' Bairstow stars as Punjab pull off record T20 chase
1 hour ago -
Tennis: ATP/WTA Madrid Open results - 2nd update
1 hour ago