RSF and 24 NGOs urge for release of Chinese investigative journalist
Reporters Without Borders (RSF) and a coalition of 24 human rights NGOs urge for the release of Chinese investigative journalist Huang Xueqin, who was arrested exactly one year ago for allegedly 'inciting subversion of state power'.
“The arbitrary detention of Huang Xueqin, a prominent journalist who was only serving the Chinese public by investigating social issues, demonstrates the determination of the Chinese government to silence all remaining independent voices in the country”, insists Reporters Without Borders (RSF) East-Asia Bureau Head, Cédric Alviani, who calls for Huang’s “immediate release alongside all other journalists and press freedom defenders detained in China.”
In a joint statement (see in full below) RSF and a coalition of 24 human rights NGOs urge for the release of Chinese investigative journalist Huang Xueqin who was arrested, together with labour activist Wang Jianbing exactly one year ago, for allegedly ‘inciting subversion of state power’ and call on the regime to “respect and protect their rights in detention, including access to legal counsel, unfettered communication with family members, their right to health and their right to bodily autonomy.”
Five months in solitary confinement
Huang and Wang were arrested on 19 September 2021 and held initially for five months in solitary confinement without access to lawyers. In August 2022 their case was transferred to court, but until today no information was given about their trial's dates.
In the 2010s, Huang Xueqin worked as a journalist for mainstream media in China, and covered issues such as women’s rights, corruption, and industrial pollution. Huang, who is also famous for her involvement in the #MeToo movement in China, was previously detained for three months in 2019 under the charge of ‘picking quarrels and provoking trouble’ for covering the pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong.
In 2021 RSF published an unprecedented investigative report entitled ‘The Great Leap Backwards of Journalism in China’, which reveals the campaign of repression led by Beijing against journalism and the right to information worldwide.
China, ranked 177th out of 180 in the RSF World Press Freedom Index, is the world's largest captor of journalists with at least 122 detained.
