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Li Zhi (dissident)

Li Zhi is a Chinese dissident. He worked as a civil servant in Dazhou. He was arrested in 2003 for his postings of information on local corruption on the Internet.

Arrest

At a time when the internet began to gain popularity with Chinese dissidents to exchange their views, while police had begun monitoring chatrooms, Li posted essays online that detailed local corruption.[1] He was detained in Sichuan province in August 2003, formally charged with "conspiracy to subvert state power" in September,[2] and sentenced for "inciting subversion" to eight years imprisonment in December that year.[1] He was convicted also for his association with the Democracy Party of China, which is a banned organization in communist China.[3] The Congressional-Executive Commission on China describes him as a political prisoner.[4] It is alleged that part of the evidence against him, namely his e-mail account and username, was provided by the Hong Kong subsidiary of the Internet company Yahoo! to the Chinese authorities.[1][3] Local sources said that the cooperation of Yahoo! with authorities had been mentioned in the verdict.[5]

Other cases

Other cases involving political prisoners in the People's Republic of China where information had been provided by Yahoo! are Shi Tao, Jiang Lijun, and Wang Xiaoning.

See also

  • Human rights in the People's Republic of China
  • List of Chinese dissidents

External links

References

  1. Mark Magnier. Yahoo is accused of aiding China in case of jailed dissident Los Angeles Times, 2006-02-09, retrieved 2021-11-08^
  2. Dissident arrested for online activities The Age, 2003-09-25, retrieved 2021-11-09^
  3. Sumner Lemnon. Yahoo may have helped jail another Chinese user Computerworld, 2006-02-09, retrieved 2021-11-08^
  4. Congressional-Executive Commission on China, Political Prisoner Database: Li Zhi.^
  5. Another cyberdissident imprisoned because of data provided by Yahoo Reporters Without Borders, 2006-02-09, retrieved 2021-11-09^