FALUN GONG CONNECTION TO THE CHINESE JOURNALIST JAILED FOR FOUR YEARS
May 16th 2008 04:49
FALUN GONG CONNECTION TO THE CHINESE JOURNALIST JAILED FOR FOUR YEARS, OSTENSIBLY FOR FRAUD AND EXTORTION
On May 16 MediaBlab reported, “A court in Tengzhou, in the eastern province of Shandong, imposed a four-year prison sentence on journalist Qi Chonghuai on May 13 on charges fraud and extorting money. Qi, who spent 11 months in pre-trial detention, used to work for Fazhi Zaobao (Legal Rule Morning Post), a newspaper owned by the justice ministry.
”One of his lawyers, Li Xiongbing, who pleaded for his acquittal in court, said that this decision violates press freedom.
Reporters Without Borders is championing Qi’s cause, but MediaBlab has just learned that what the press freedom organisation omitted to mention was that Qi wrote for several print and media outlets, and that the piece he is apparently being punished for was actually published on the website of Epoch Times.
While this does not condone the jailing of Qi, it makes the harsh Chinese reaction more understandable.
Epoch Times is a US-based newspaper that most media refer to as being “linked” to the banned Chinese sect Falun Gong.
The reality is that word “linked” is perhaps erroneous; while actual ownership may be removed by one or two connections from Falun Gong, one only has to read the paper to realise that Epoch Times is straight out a Falun Gong propaganda organ posing as an objective and intelligent international newspaper.
The newspaper actively and aggressively campaigns against the Chinese government and of course favourably highlights Falun Gong news in each and every issue.
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