5 US-Blogger in China festgenommen

In Peking sind fünf Blogger von der Polizei festgenommen worden und sitzen seit mehr als 60 Stunden in Haft, weil sie Pro-Tibet Proteste begleiteten. Darunter ist auch der Video-Blogger Brian Conley (Alive in Baghdad), den wir auf der letzten re:publica zu Gast hatten.

Die Kampagnenseite Free Tibet 2008 berichtet: Beijing: Citizen Journalists, Videoblogger, Activists Detained.

Beijing – Brian Conley, creator of the well-known videoblog, Alive in Baghdad, was detained with his friend, Jeffrey Rae, early Tuesday, August 19th in Beijing. Their detention appears to have taken place at the same time as that of international artist James Powderly, whose detention was reported Tuesday. Three other bloggers and activists, Jeff Goldin, Michael Liss, and Tom Grant, have also been missing since Tuesday morning. Conley, 28, Rae, 28, Goldin, 40, Liss, 35, Grant, 39 are all American citizens.

The five “citizen journalists” and activists were in Beijing to support and promote human rights, freedom of expression, and freedom for the Tibetan people. They and numerous others have acted as an independent media centre for the dozens of pro-Tibet activists in Beijing who have sought to draw attention to the Chinese government’s occupation of Tibet during the Olympics. Rae and Conley shot and released online high-resolution photographs and footage of the recent protest by Students for a Free Tibet supporters at the Chinese Ethnic Culture Park.