Breaking News – Yang Chun-Lin acquitted at court: “We Want Human Rights, but not the Olympics “
At 8:30 on February 19, Chun-Lin Yang was on trial at the Jiamusi City Intermediate People’s Court in Heilongjiang Province. Yang Chun-Lin acquitted in court defending himself. The judge said that the verdict would be announced after further discussion with the Provincial Party Committee on another day.
Yang Chun-Lin’s sister, Yang Chun-Ping told an SOH reporter in an interview: “My brother will be sentenced based on his campaign “Human Rights but not the Olympics.” IOC President Jacques Rogge said, “the Olympic Games is not a political arena,” then, why will my brother be sentenced when he raised the issues related to the Olympic Games? My brother also said in court today that the Chinese people cannot afford meals and schooling, then why have you (the authority) put tens of billions into the Olympics? Since you have this ability, why not consider the ordinary Chinese people.”
She added: Another lost-land farmer Yu Chang-Wu was sentenced to a year and a half imprisonment at a forced labour camp for supporting the campaign “Human Rights but not the Olympics”. The government’s response had perished with the Chinese commoners’ hopes for appeals to authorities. Yang’s sister said that Yang Chun-Lin has no intention to appeal, for he has lost confidence in China’s law and judiciary system.
Li Fang-Ping, the defending counsel for Yang Chun-Lin said at the end of the court session that Yang Chun-Lin thinks that one should not be punished for holding and airing one’s different opinion or ideology over the state system.
Fujin’s local government of Heilongjiang Province has seized farmers land for over 10 years while Fujin farmers have been persecuted for their appeals, and the situation is deteriorating. In June 2007 Yang Chun-Lin proposed the campaign “Human rights but not Olympics”, exposing many layers of the inside story on the land seizure by the officials, demanding a thorough investigation into the land seizing case that eventually reached many mainstream media at home and abroad, as well as the concerns of human rights groups. Yang Chun-Lin also solicited the signatures of over 10,000 people for the campaign of ‘Human Rights but not the Olympic Games’. The letter of appeal with the joint petition had been submitted to the IOC and UN Human Rights Organization via Pan Qing, the contact for the National Alliance against the Despotic Rule of the Communist regime. Yang Chun-Lin has been detained for seven months and may face felony penalties.
The above news is brought to you by Wang Qian, Ming Wei, and hosted by Chris Thomas for Breaking News on SOH Radio Network.
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