🚀 go-pugleaf

Call for Freedom for Chinese Scientists Who Used Internet

On 10 December, a coalition of 13 free speech and scientific
organisations launched an e-mail campaign on behalf of two jailed
Chinese scientists charged with "using the Internet to promote
democracy," reports Cyber-Rights & Cyber-Liberties (UK), one of the
groups. Lin Hai and Wang Youcai were both arrested and charged with
"inciting the overthrow of state power." Lin , a Shanghai software
engineer, was arrested in March after providing 30,000 Chinese e-mail
addresses to "VIP Reference", a US-based Internet magazine that
distributes reports on dissident activities, human rights, and other
issues to more than 250,000 e-mail addresses in China. Wang, a Chinese
physicist,  leader of the 1989 pro-democracy demonstrations in
Tiananmen Square and co-founder of the opposition group China
Democracy Party, was arrested in November after e-mailing documents to
dissidents overseas. "The Internet is already proving to be a very
powerful tool for dissidents in China and around the globe," says
Barry Steinhardt, executive director of the Electronic Frontier
Foundation. "The Chinese government has recognized the threat that it
poses to their dictatorial rules and has adopted the most repressive
rules about Internet use in the world." To view an Action Alert
calling for Lin and Wang's release, visit:
http://www.cyber-rights.org/linhai.htm

Via:
View the webzine version of the IFEX "Communique" on-line at:
www.ifex.org/communique.

International Freedom of Expression eXchange Clearing House
 IFEX "COMMUNIQUE" # 7-48
 15 December 1998

:-) :-) Message Ends; Signature File Begins (-: (-:
George(s) Lessard, Community Media Arts, Management & Mentoring
Information, subscriptions, public keyword searchable archives and
CAUTIONS, Disclaimers, NOTES TO EDITORS and copyright information may
be found @ http://members.tripod.com/~media002/disclaimer.htm
CAUTION: some of the SEMI-RANDOM QUOTES reproduced below
may not be suitable for certain insensitive readers:
: : : : : : : begin  quote : : : : : : :

It doesn't bother me
and I suggest that if it bothers you -
that's why God (or Bill Gates) gave us a delete key.
(David NL Day)


: : : : : : end of SEMI-RANDOM quote : : : : : :
                    - 30 -