A Chinese journalist who went to prison for reporting on a health threat
before Chinese authorities announced it has been awarded the 2008 Golden Pen
of Freedom, the annual press freedom prize of the World Association of
Newspapers.
The award to Li Chongqing, who was released from prison in February after
serving three years for reporting on an outbreak of dengue fever, marked the
second consecutive year that the annual award has gone to a Chinese
journalist. It was the first time since WAN created the award in 1961 that
journalists from the same country have won it in consecutive years.
Mr Li was unable to obtain a passport and could not attend the award
ceremony, held today (2 June) in G�teborg, Sweden. His wife, Bao Dinling,
was stopped at the airport in Beijing and prevented by Chinese authorities
from attending.
But in remarks read by Li Jianhong, a writer who has been persecuted and
arrested and forced to leave China, Mr Li said: "I am deeply aware that this
is not an honour only to me in particular, but also an award in general to
all of my colleagues who are bravely devoting themselves to freedom of
expression, especially those in China."
"The facts that Chinese journalists have gotten the Golden Pen of Freedom
Award two years in succession, and that China has become the world's largest
jailer of the journalists, have shown that the current situation of free
expression in China is of growing concern to the whole world," he said.
"China is a land that needs to be travelled with the voices of conscience
and a nation that needs to be saved by the truth."
The award was presented by George Brock, President of the World Editors
Forum, during the opening ceremonies of the World Newspaper Congress and
World Editors Forum, the annual global meetings of the world's press.
"The award was made on the individual merits of Mr Li's case. He went to
jail for exposing a serious outbreak of a dangerous disease before the
authorities had told the public about it. The Golden Pen of Freedom
recognises Mr Li's brave conduct in revealing significant facts in the
public interest," said Mr. Brock.
"But Mr Li's case also belongs in a context. China has the dubious
distinction of being the world's biggest jailer of journalists," he said.
"Despite the promises it made in its successful Olympic bid to improve
conditions for journalists, China has continued its repressive policies,
cynically believing that neither the Olympic movement nor the international
community expects them to honour their promises of reform."
At least 30 journalists and 50 cyber-dissidents remain in Chinese prisons.
Mr Li, who was freed from prison on 2 February, was a reporter and deputy
news director of the Fuzhou Daily in Fuzhou City, Fujian Province. He was
sentenced to prison in January 2006, for "fabricating and spreading false
information", after being detained without charges for nearly a year. The
charges stem from a report on the 2004 outbreak of dengue fever in Fuzhou
that was posted on Boxun News Network, a Chinese-language website based in
the United States.
Due to censorship and restrictions imposed by the Communist Party Propaganda
Department on sensitive social issues, no reports of the outbreak in Fuzhou
of dengue, a viral, mosquito-borne disease, had been reported in the Chinese
press. Nor had health officials officially announced the outbreak.
"In most countries, he would be celebrated and honoured for this work," said
Mr Brock. "In China, disclosing such facts is an imprisonable offence."
Mr Li said being a journalist in China "is full of risks. To be a good
journalist, one does not only need wisdom but needs moral courage even
more."
Mr Li's full remarks can be read at
http://www.wan-press.org/article17358.html
Mr Brock's remarks can be found at
http://www.wan-press.org/article17323.html
The ceremony was attended by Swedish King Carl XVI Gustaf, ambassadors and
other dignitaries. More than 1,500 newspaper publishers, chief editors and
other senior newspaper executives are attending the Congress, Forum and Info
Expo 2008, which continue through Wednesday. Full details are available at
http://www.wansweden2008.com.
The Paris-based WAN, the global organisation for the newspaper industry,
defends and promotes press freedom and the professional and business
interests of newspapers world-wide. Representing 18,000 newspapers, its
membership includes 77 national newspaper associations, newspaper companies
and individual newspaper executives in 102 countries, 12 news agencies and
11 regional and world-wide press groups.
Inquiries to: Larry Kilman, Director of Communications, WAN, 7 rue Geoffroy
St Hilaire, 75005 Paris France. Tel: +33 1 47 42 85 00. Fax: +33 1 47 42 49
48. Mobile: +33 6 10 28 97 36. E-mail: [email protected]
