(RSF/IFEX) – RSF is protesting the interrogation of a German journalist and the decision to deport him from China. According to RSF’s information, on 17 November 1998, Juergen Kremb, Beijing’s correspondent for the German weekly “Der Spiegel”, was issued with an arrest warrant by officers from Beijing’s State Security Bureau. He told Reuters that his […]
(RSF/IFEX) – RSF is protesting the interrogation of a German journalist and
the decision to deport him from China. According to RSF’s information, on 17
November 1998, Juergen Kremb, Beijing’s correspondent for the German weekly
“Der Spiegel”, was issued with an arrest warrant by officers from Beijing’s
State Security Bureau. He told Reuters that his office was checked. He was
filmed during his interrogation. As he refused to sign the arrest warrant,
the officers left the office. On 18 November, Kremb was ordered to leave
China within forty eight hours.
According to the journalist, although the authorities failed to detail the
charges against
him – he is accused of “violation of Chinese law” and “possession of State
secrets” -, this decision could be linked to his close friendship with the
Chinese dissident Wei Jingsheng. Kremb said he was arrested last April after
travelling to Anhui province to visit Wei’s family. The journalist also
wrote a book on Wei whose Chinese translation has just
appeared in Taipei, Taiwan. Kremb is the second foreign journalist to be
ordered to leave China this year.
Recommended Action
Send appeals to the Minister of State Security:
International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, Article 19 of which
guarantees freedom of the press
press freedom, in total contradiction with the image the Chinese government
wants to show outside China concerning the respect of human rights
journalist
and to allow him to return to Beijing to practise his profession
Appeals To
Mr. Xu Yongyue
Minister of State Security
Beijing, China
Please copy appeals to the source if possible.
