China
China frees jailed New York Times researcherPosted Sep 20 2007
Zhao Yan, a Chinese researcher for the New York Times, was freed on Sept. 15 after serving a three-year sentence for fraud.
Mr. Zhao's case prompted international outrage and criticism of China's legal system. Human rights groups and journalism advocacy organizations criticized his arrest as politically motivated and without merit. The case was marked by legal irregularities, and at one point a Beijing court even withdrew all charges against him. But Mr. Zhao was never released, and the charges were reinstated without explanation.
“This case demonstrated the common practice of the police and prosecution adding, as a fig leaf afterthought, a second and flimsier charge in an attempt to justify charge that could not be substantiated after investigation,” said Jerome Cohen, an expert on Chinese law who advised The New York Times on the case. In a statement, Bill Keller, executive editor of The New York Times, said, “We have said all along that Mr. Zhao is an honorable, hard-working reporter whose only offense seems to have been practicing journalism.” “It is our expectation that Mr. Zhao, having served his full three-year term, will now be able to resume his life and return to his chosen profession without restrictions.”
Mr. Zhao said in a statement to who? that “I would like to thank my family, friends and my employer for their steadfast concern and support.” He said he would issue a fuller statement “at some point in the near future.” Awarded the 2005 Reporters Without Borders – Foundation de France prize for “his commitment for freedom of information,” Mr. Zhao earned a national reputation as a “muckraking” journalist before he joined The New York Times in April 2004. Mr. Zhao remains an employee of The Times' Beijing bureau.
Related links: The New York Times, Reporters Without Borders