Chinese writer and political dissident Zheng Yichun was charged with subversion of state power and sentenced to seven years of imprisonment on September 22 by the Intermediate People’s Court of Yingkou city, Liaoning province.
The evidence against Zheng Yichun included more than 77 articles he had written between April 2003 and December 2004 for the Epoch Times and other news web sites. The court claimed that the content of the articles “subverted the state power.” The court accused Zheng of “the publication of many articles with the intention to subvert the state power, which is a significant crime. The articles had a bad influence both in China and abroad.”
The articles include, “An Indictment of the Chinese Communist Party Gang,” “Only Capitalism can Rescue China,” “Understand the Difference between the People and Government,” “The Ten Major Systemic Lies Governing China.”
Among these articles, “An Indictment of the Chinese Communist Party Gang” has been composed into a rock song and published on-line by the Pangu Band. “The Ten Systemic Lies Governing China” won the third place in a global essay contest about the white lies of red China. After the articles “No Disagreement is Allowed in China” and “Correct All the Lies in Text Books” were published in the KFZ Poetry Journal (Note 1), his articles became better known and won many positive on-line comments.
The trial drew an audience of more than thirty government officials with both political and law backgrounds.
The written judgment accused Zheng Yichuan of “colluding with” Tang Qing of The Epoch Times and writing articles according to the direction of Tang Qing through e-mail and phone communication. The court claimed, that Tang Qing paid him 20,000 yuan for his articles.
Chief Editor for the Epoch Times Web site Tang Qing said that the court’s decision is disgraceful. He said that the money given to Zheng Yichuan was simply a reward for the work well done. He also said that regular communication between editor and author is routine. He feels that the Chinese Communist Party’s court decision was made out of fear of people finding out the truth about its regime.
In addition to sentencing him to seven years, the court said that Zheng Yichuan would have his rights as a citizen taken away for additional three years.
Zheng Yichuan said that he would appeal the court’s decision. Attorney Gao Zhisheng will be his defense lawyer.
Notes: 1. KFZ, Kong Fang Zi (Empty House), is a pro-democracy poetry group formed in China toward the end of the 20th Century. (http://bj2.netsh.com/bbs/97835)
