Tan Zuoren (born 15 May 1954), from

Chengdu Chengdu (, ; simplified Chinese: 成都; pinyin: ''Chéngdū''; Sichuanese pronunciation: , Standard Chinese pronunciation: ), alternatively romanized as Chengtu, is a sub-provincial city which serves as the capital of the Chinese pro ...

Sichuan province Sichuan (; zh, c=, labels=no, ; zh, p=Sìchuān; alternatively romanized as Szechuan or Szechwan; formerly also referred to as "West China" or "Western China" by Protestant missions) is a province in Southwest China occupying most of the ...

, People's Republic of China, is an environmentalist, writer and former editor of ''Literati'' magazine (文化人).Chinadigitaltimes.com.
Chinadigitaltimes.com
" ''Cui Weiping (崔卫平)： Self-initiated and Idealistic Thinking and Action.'' Retrieved on August 12, 2009. On February 9, 2010, Zuoren was sentenced to 5 years in prison for "

inciting subversion of state power Inciting subversion of state power () is a crime under the law of the People's Republic of China. It is article 105, paragraph 2 of the 1997 revision of the People's Republic of China's Penal Code.Amnesty International Asia-Pacific Deputy Director said: “His arrest, unfair trial and now the guilty verdict are further disturbing examples of how the Chinese authorities use vague and over broad laws to silence and punish dissenting voices.” Due to the nature of the charges and circumstances of the trial, he has been described as a political prisoner.

2009 court case

After the 2008 Sichuan earthquake Tan came up with a proposal called the "5.12 Student Archive" (5·12学生档案) asking people who lost their children in the quake to set up a victim

database In computing, a database is an organized collection of data stored and accessed electronically. Small databases can be stored on a file system, while large databases are hosted on computer clusters or cloud storage. The design of databases s ...

. But for his trouble, Chengdu police searched his home and confiscated his DVDs, manuscripts and documents. Tan coined the expression「豆腐渣」( tofu dreg project) to describe the shoddy construction quality of Sichuan schools. On March 28, 2009, he was detained on allegations for subversion of state power. Tan Zuoren was formally accused of defaming the

Communist Party of China The Chinese Communist Party (CCP), officially the Communist Party of China (CPC), is the founding and sole ruling party of the People's Republic of China (PRC). Under the leadership of Mao Zedong, the CCP emerged victorious in the Chinese Civil ...

in email comments about the

Tiananmen Square protests of 1989 The Tiananmen Square protests, known in Chinese as the June Fourth Incident (), were student-led demonstrations held in Tiananmen Square, Beijing during 1989. In what is known as the Tiananmen Square Massacre, or in Chinese the June Fourth ...

. According to the indictment, On August 12, 2009, his trial in

was held.Reuters.com.
Reuters.com
" ''Witnesses held as China quake activist trial starts.'' Retrieved on August 12, 2009. Tan's lawyer Pu Zhiqiang said that "The authorities getting their hands on your witness list and then harassing the witnesses and locking them away, that’s a disgrace for the courts in China. But it is the status quo of our judicial system, I think they are doing that because they are afraid.” Tan Zuoren's defense lawyers Xia Lin and Pu Zhiqiang in their defense summation told the court that: Contemporary artist

Ai Weiwei Ai Weiwei (, ; born 28 August 1957) is a Chinese contemporary artist, documentarian, and activist. Ai grew up in the far northwest of China, where he lived under harsh conditions due to his father's exile. As an activist, he has been openly c ...

, who travelled to Chengdu to testify, said he and 10 other volunteers were woken up by police entering their hotel rooms at 3 am dawn on August 12. He was beaten up and prevented from leaving until after the trial adjourned. Tan's supporters and Amnesty International said he was detained because he planned to issue an independent report on the collapse of school buildings during the Sichuan earthquake. Ai said "they were like gangs in a movie, they could do whatever they wanted. It was very scary." Tan's trial began a week after another earthquake activist,

Huang Qi Huang Qi (, born 1963) is a Chinese webmaster and human rights activist. He is the co-founder of Tianwang Center for Missing Persons (later renamed the ''Tianwang Human Rights Center''), along with his wife Zeng Li. Initially the mission of th ...

, was tried on state secrets charges in Chengdu; he was convicted and sentenced to three years' imprisonment on November 23, 2009. Tan's lawyer, Pu Zhiqiang said the report on the earthquake all show his investigation is objective and scientific. Hong Kong's

now TV Now most commonly refers to the present time. Now, NOW, or The Now may also refer to: Organizations * Natal Organisation of Women, a South African women's organization * National Organization for Women, an American feminist organization * No ...

aired footage of Chengdu police searching the luggage and hotel rooms of two of its journalists, who were prevented from leaving the hotel for seven hours, while police said they looked for drugs. Footage of security forces manhandling reporters was also shown widely on television news.

2010 appeal

On June 9, 2010, the Chengdu Intermediate People's Court rejected his appeal. The sentence of 5 years in jail and 3 years deprived of political rights was upheld.

2014 release

Zuoren was released on March 27, 2014 "under a kind of probation - he doesn't have the right to speak up", according to Ai.Tan Zuoren verdict, Chengdu City Intermediate Court
''China News Digest''

References

External links

Tan's blog

川震公民調查拒絕遺忘
��張潔平，亚洲周刊二十三卷十五期，2009年4月
彭州石化危害成都城市安全
��譚作人，2008年11月30日，亚洲周刊
譚作人被禁制的最後陳述
亞洲週刊二十三卷四十七期 (2009-11-29)

* ttp://news.sina.com.hk/cgi-bin/nw/show.cgi/6/1/1/1424195/1.html 豆腐渣工程罪魁逍遙法外譚作人追查反被以言入罪 2010-02-10 br>四川維權人士譚作人被判刑五年
國際特赦組織:...中國當局運用「模糊和過於廣義的法律壓制和懲罰不同意見的手法」 {{DEFAULTSORT:Tan, Zuoren Chinese activists Chinese dissidents Chinese environmentalists Living people 1954 births Writers from Chengdu Weiquan movement Prisoners and detainees of China People's Republic of China journalists

2009 court case

2010 appeal

2014 release

See also

References

External links