On May 6, 2012, the Chinese Human Rights Defenders network reported that Zhu Yufu’s appeal of his seven-year sentence was denied. On May 10, the network reported that Zhu was transferred to Zhejiang Prison No. 4, in the Prefecture of Hangzhou Shi, Yuhang District. Zhejiang Prison No. 4 is a forced labor camp (“laogai”) whose inmates produce hoists, hand trolleys and other items for the state-owned Hangzhou Wulin Machinery Company for pennies a day. China is sensitive about the camps. Melissa Chan, the English-language correspondent for Al Jazeera in China, was expelled from the country on May 7, 2012, at least in part for her reporting on prison conditions. The New York Times said Chinese authorities were angered by Al Jazeera’s description of prison labor as a form of slavery for millions of inmates in a documentary broadcast in November, 2011.
AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL CONDEMNS HARSH SENTENCE FOR CHINESE POET ZHU YUFU
Press Release 10 February 2012--Today’s sentencing of veteran activist Zhu Yufu to seven-years for writing a poem deemed to "incite subversion of state power” is further evidence of the Chinese government’s continuing repression of anyone it perceives as directly or indirectly criticizing it policies, Amnesty International said.
Press Release 10 February 2012--Today’s sentencing of veteran activist Zhu Yufu to seven-years for writing a poem deemed to "incite subversion of state power” is further evidence of the Chinese government’s continuing repression of anyone it perceives as directly or indirectly criticizing it policies, Amnesty International said.
For many years the Chinese government has stamped on dissent and today’s decision should be seen in the context of a growing demand in the country for more freedom.
Amnesty International condemns this direct and unjustified assault on Zhu Yufu’s basic human right to freedom of expression
"We believe this is a sign that the Chinese leadership is afraid. Why else would they sentence someone to seven years in prison for writing a poem? The Chinese government has seen the uprisings in the Middle East and North Africa. It has seen the people coming out in the tens of thousands to protest a repressive regime in Russia. And it has seen the Chinese people themselves grow stronger in their demands for more freedoms and a say over their country's future. And now the leaders at the very top have clearly given out orders that any hint of dissent must be crushed," said Sarah Schafer, Amnesty International's China Researcher.
