China
Editor freed from prison; paper's president rPosted Feb 25 2007
ditor freed from prison; paper's president remains
Li Minying, former editor of the Chinese newspaper Nanfang Dushi Bao (Southern Metropolitan Daily), was released Feb. 12, three years before completing a six-year prison sentence. Minying's original sentence of 11 years had already been previously reduced. Li and the newspaper's president, Yu Huafeng, were arrested in 2004 for alleged corruption after Li reported on the beating of a man at a Guangzhou police station. Yu's remains in prison on embezzlement and graft charges though his eight-year sentence has been reduced to seven. Reporters Without Borders reports that various sources have claimed the arrests were punishment against the liberal daily newspaper for investigative stories including some about SARS. “Li spent three years of his life in prison after being unfairly convicted in order to punish him for being a bold and dynamic newspaper executive,” Reporters Without Borders said. “His release is very good news, but there is now an urgent need to press for the release of Yu, who is still in prison for his role at the head of Nanfang Dushi Bao.”
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