Author Yu Jie Questioned and Released in Beijing
 
July 7, 2010, Washington, DC- Prominent Chinese author and dissident Yu Jie was detained Saturday in Beijing.  A co-founder of the Independent Chinese Pen Association and Christian advocate, the basis for Yu's detention was articles he had written for the overseas Chinese language website Observe China and a proposed book on Prime Minister Wen Jiabao. 
 
Five officers showed up at Yu Jie's home Saturday and took him to the Chaoyang District police station.  In detention for 11 hours, Yu was asked to sign articles he had written for foreign websites.  After returning home, Yu immediately penned an open letter to Premier Wen Jiabao protesting his detention.  This letter can be found in Chinese on the Observe China website. 
 
Laogai Research Foundation Director Harry Wu said of Yu's detention and subsequent questioning, "When detentions like this occur, it makes you wonder who is next?  First they sentence Liu Xiaobo on Christmas, and now they arrest Yu Jie on July 4th. The government seems to think if they abuse human rights on a holiday the world will not notice. " 
 
Yu Jie's detention raises concerns that the authorities may be preparing to formally arrest him.  Noted democracy activist Liu Xiaobo who was arrested in December 2008, was also charged in part for articles written for the Observe China website. Liu is still in prison after being convicted of endangering state security and subverting the socialist order. 
 
For further inquiry, please contact Lindsey Purdy at (202) 408-8300 or Lindsey@laogai.org. 

 
The Laogai Research Foundation is a not-for-profit organization founded by former political prisoner Harry Wu in 1992.  Its mission is to gather information on and raise public awareness of the Laogai-China's extensive system of forced labor prison camps.