14 DAY TRIAL // Freedom of speech was, once again, violated by the Chinese state, as the association Reporters without Borders claims. The human rights group reports about the arrest of Du Daobin, a cyber-dissident who is accused of publishing more than 100 articles defying China on the Internet.
This is not Daobin's first encounter with the law. In June 2004, he was convicted to three years in prison for actions against the state, but afterwards the punishment was commuted to house detention. "They gave me five or six reasons for taking him away," Daobin's wife said to RFA, after her husband was confined the second time. "One was that he had violated the rules regarding the period of suspension of sentence. They said he had gone out without prior approval, and that he had met with visitors without prior approval."
Indeed, the man was forbidden to leave the house without the Chinese officials' consent, although his wife claims that he didn't infringe this rule, as he only got out of the house on four occasions, each time in order to visit his father. International human rights associations, like Reporters without Borders, already demanded that Daobin be released. "The Chinese authorities fear the influence of these Internet users and find it increasingly difficult to rein them in. We call for Du's release and the withdrawal of the charges against him." stated the members of RP.
Public opinion sees his imprisoning as a result of the fact that the Beijing Olympic Games are near. "If he had violated the law, why did they wait until the period of suspension is about to expire to take him away? I think it's related to the Olympics. Maybe there was some kind of an order from higher up to keep things peaceful for the Games," says Liu Xiaobo, another cyber-activist about his fellow's imprisonment.
Other two dissidents were arrested recently because, as suggested by some associations, their actions could have drawn attention on China's politics regarding freedom of expression and Daobin's articles had as main purpose making people feel freer in their country. At the moment, no one knows exactly where the dissident is detained.