Author Yu Jie Recounts His Interrogation in Beijing
 
July 13, 2010, Washington, DC- Prominent Chinese author and dissident Yu Jie was detained Saturday July 3rd in Beijing.  A one of the co-founders 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 and took him to the Chaoyang District police station.  In detention for 1 day, 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. 
 
Subsequently, Yu Jie authored a piece entitled, "Censorship Everywhere in China-My Second Interrogation by the Chinese Police."  This piece is available in translation on the LRF English Blog here.
 
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. 

 

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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.