Shi Tao (journalist)

Shi Tao
师涛
Born	(1968-07-25) July 25, 1968 (age 55) Golden Pen of Freedom Award (2006)

Shi Tao (

U.S. Congress

, settled a lawsuit by Shi's family out of court, and pledged to reform its practices.

Following Shi's arrest, he won two major international journalism awards: the

Golden Pen of Freedom Award. On September 5, 2013, Shi Tao was released from prison. He received an 18-month reduction in sentencing after spending 81⁄2 years in prison. He lives in Yinchuan, Ningxia, with his mother.^[1]

Background

Shi Tao was born in Yanchi County, Wuzhong, Ningxia, in China in 1968.^[2] According to Liu Xiaobo, Shi became active in the democracy movement around the time of the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests and massacre.^[3] In July 1991, he received a degree from Shanghai's East China Normal University. He married the following year.^[2]

Hunan Province.^[4]

Arrest and imprisonment

On April 20, 2004, Shi received a document from CCP which instructed journalists not to report on the upcoming fifteenth anniversary of the "June 4th event", the Tiananmen Square massacre.[2] The document warned of infiltration and sabotage by foreigners and Falun Gong, and stated that media members must "correctly direct public opinion" and "never release any opinions that are inconsistent with central policies".^[5] Shi used a Yahoo! Mail account to send an anonymous post to a Chinese-language website based in New York that described the communication.^[6]

At the request of the Chinese government, Yahoo! provided records confirming that Shi's account had sent the e-mail.^[6] Shi was unofficially detained on 24 November 2004,^[5] and on December 14, he was officially arrested under state security laws on a charge of leaking state secrets.^[6]^[7] During Shi's trial, his lawyer contended that his punishment should be light as the disclosure of the information had not caused great harm to China.^[8] In June, he was sentenced to ten years' imprisonment by the Changsha Intermediate People's Court.^[6]^[9]

Shi's appeal to the Hunan Province High People's Court was rejected without a hearing. Shi's mother Gao Qinsheng filed a request for a review of the appeal on his behalf in August 2005.

forced labor. He began to suffer from respiratory problems, and in April 2006, also developed an ulcer and heart problems. In June 2007, he was given a medical transfer to Deshan Prison, where he worked in the machinery plant, and his health reportedly improved.^[2] According to Amnesty International, Shi's mother, brother and uncle were also harassed following his arrest, and his wife was repeatedly interrogated and pressured to divorce him, which she eventually did.^[10]

Shi's imprisonment was protested by several international NGOs. Amnesty International designated him a prisoner of conscience and called for his immediate release.^[5] The Congressional-Executive Commission on China describes him as a political prisoner.^[11] Reporters Without Borders launched a petition calling for his release,^[12] while the Committee to Protect Journalists described itself as "outraged" by the arrest.^[13] Human Rights Watch called him an imprisoned "human rights defender" and campaigned for his release.^[14]

Yahoo!'s role

The incident sparked a controversy about the business practices of Yahoo!, the

House Foreign Affairs Committee of the United States Congress in 2006.^[16]

In August 2007, Congress began an investigation into Yahoo!'s handling of the case,

Holocaust.^[19] Yang apologized to Shi's mother and stated that he didn't think any Yahoo! employee "was trying to do anything wrong" and that the company was committed to "protecting and promoting free expression and privacy". He testified that the company was also collaborating with human rights organizations on an industry code of conduct to protect human rights.^[18] Yang later met with Shi's family.^[20]

Also in 2007, the World Organization for Human Rights filed a lawsuit in San Francisco against Yahoo! for allegedly providing information (emails and IP addresses) to the Chinese government that caused the arrests of journalists Shi Tao and Wang Xiaoning.^[21]^[22] After unsuccessfully seeking to have the suit dismissed,^[22] Yahoo! settled out of court for an undisclosed sum.^[20]

Prior to a trip by U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to China in February 2008, Yang appealed to her to "actively pursue the release of Shi Tao, Wang Xiaoning and other Chinese dissidents who have been imprisoned for exercising internationally recognized rights of expression".^[23]

Awards and recognition

On October 18, 2005, the Committee to Protect Journalists announced that Shi was one of four winners of the 2005 CPJ International Press Freedom Awards.^[4] The committee's website stated that he would be officially presented with the award when he is released from prison.^[24]

In March 2006, he was given the

World Association of Newspapers.^[25] The award was accepted on his behalf by his mother.^[10] In 2009, Human Rights Watch awarded Shi a Hellman/Hammett grant, which recognizes "commitment to free expression" and "courage in the face of political persecution".^[26]

References

^ "China: Journalist Shi Tao vorzeitig aus Haft entlassen". www.amnesty.de (in German). Retrieved December 13, 2023.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e "Shi Tao". English PEN. February 29, 2008. Archived from the original on October 15, 2012. Retrieved October 7, 2012.
^ Liu Xiaobo (October 7, 2005). "Liu Xiaobo's letter to Yahoo!". Human Rights Watch. Archived from the original on January 22, 2013. Retrieved October 7, 2012.
^ ^a ^b "IPFA 2005 - Shi Tao". Committee to Protect Journalists. Archived from the original on October 19, 2012. Retrieved January 21, 2007.
^ ^a ^b ^c "China: Legacy of the Beijing Olympics: Free Shi Tao: China's choice, your voice". Amnesty International. February 1, 2008. Archived from the original on March 26, 2014. Retrieved October 15, 2012.
^
ISSN 0362-4331
. Retrieved December 13, 2023.

^ ^a ^b "Imprisoned journalist Shi Tao's family files for review of appeal". Committee to Protect Journalists. August 25, 2005. Archived from the original on September 4, 2012. Retrieved October 13, 2012.
^ "Appendix III: Details of Shi Tao's case". Human Rights Watch. Archived from the original on January 22, 2013. Retrieved October 15, 2012.
^ "Chinese Authorities Sentence Journalist to 10 Years in Prison | Congressional-Executive Commission on China". www.cecc.gov. Retrieved January 16, 2024.
^
The New Statesman. Archived from the original
on October 30, 2017. Retrieved October 15, 2012.

^ Congressional-Executive Commission on China, Political Prisoner Database:Shi Tao Archived October 17, 2012, at the Wayback Machine.
^ "Shi Tao". Reporters Without Borders. Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved October 15, 2012.
^ "Journalist imprisoned". Committee to Protect Journalists. December 8, 2004. Archived from the original on September 4, 2012. Retrieved October 15, 2012.
^ "China's Rights Defenders". Human Rights Watch. Archived from the original on October 26, 2012. Retrieved October 15, 2012.
^ "Yahoo 'helped jail China writer'". BBC News. September 7, 2005. Archived from the original on April 5, 2013. Retrieved October 13, 2012.
^ ^a ^b Stephanie Kirchgaessne and Richard Waters (August 8, 2007). "Yahoo faces scrutiny in China case". MSNBC. Archived from the original on August 17, 2007. Retrieved August 17, 2007.
^ ^a ^b ^c "US rebukes Yahoo over China case". BBC News. November 6, 2007. Archived from the original on March 16, 2011. Retrieved October 13, 2012.
^ ^a ^b "Yahoo chief apologizes to Chinese dissidents' relatives". The New York Times. November 7, 2007. Archived from the original on March 14, 2021. Retrieved October 13, 2012.
^ Dana Milbank (November 7, 2007). "Searching for an Explanation: No Results Found". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on October 31, 2017. Retrieved October 15, 2012.
^ ^a ^b Paul Elias (November 13, 2007). "Yahoo settles lawsuit by jailed journalists over decision to give info to Chinese government". Associated Press. Archived from the original on January 25, 2013. Retrieved October 13, 2012.
^ "Yahoo plea over China rights case". BBC News. August 28, 2007. Archived from the original on November 12, 2012. Retrieved October 13, 2012.
^ ^a ^b "Yahoo seeks to dismiss China case". Associated Press. August 28, 2007. Archived from the original on April 14, 2016. Retrieved October 13, 2012.
^ Dibya Sarkar (February 21, 2008). "Yahoo Asks US Gov't to Help Dissidents". Associated Press. Archived from the original on March 8, 2016. Retrieved October 13, 2012.
^ "IPFA awardees 2005". Committee to Protect Journalists. Archived from the original on September 3, 2012. Retrieved January 21, 2007.
^ "Jailed Chinese Journalist Wins WAN Golden Pen of Freedom". World Association of Newspapers. November 28, 2006. Archived from the original on February 5, 2012. Retrieved October 7, 2012.
^ "Banned, Censored, Harassed, and Jailed". Human Rights Watch. October 11, 2009. Archived from the original on January 22, 2013. Retrieved October 15, 2012.

CPJ International Press Freedom Award laureates

1991
- Pius Njawé
- Wang Juntao
- Bill Foley
- Chen Ziming
- Cary Vaughan
- Tatyana Mitkova
- Byron Barrera
1992
- Thepchai Yong
- Gwen Lister
- Sony Esteus
- Mohammed Al-Sager
- David Kaplan
1993
- Ricardo Uceda
- Veran Matić
- Nosa Igiebor
- Đoàn Viết Hoạt
- Omar Belhouchet
1994
- Navidi Vakhsh
- Daisy Li Yuet-Wah
- Yndamiro Restano Díaz
- Aziz Nesin
- Iqbal Athas
1995
- Veronica Guerin
- Ahmad Taufik
- Fred M'membe
- José Rubén Zamora
- Siglo Veintiuno
- Yevgeny Kiselyov
1996
- Ocak Işık Yurtçu
- Özgür Gündem
- Daoud Kuttab
- Jesús Blancornelas
- Yusuf Jameel
1997
- Yelena Masyuk
- Freedom Neruda
- Viktor Ivančić
- Yuen-Ying Chan
- Shieh Chung-liang
- Christine Anyanwu
1998
- Ruth Simon
- Pavel Sheremet
- Goenawan Mohamad
- Gustavo Gorriti
- Grémah Boucar
1999
- Jesús Joel Díaz Hernández
- Baton Haxhiu
- Jugnu Mohsin
- Najam Sethi
- María Cristina Caballero
2000
- Željko Kopanja
- Modeste Mutinga
- Steven Gan
- Mashallah Shamsolvaezin
2001
- Jiang Weiping
- Geoffrey Nyarota
- Horacio Verbitsky
- Mazen Dana
2002
- Fesshaye Yohannes
- Irina Petrushova
- Tipu Sultan
- Ignacio Gómez
2003
- Manuel Vázquez Portal
- Musa Muradov
- Aboubakr Jamaï
- Abdul Samay Hamed
2004
- Paul Klebnikov
- Alexis Sinduhije
- Aung Pwint
- Thaung Tun
- Svetlana Kalinkina
2005
- Shi Tao
- Lúcio Flávio Pinto
- Beatrice Mtetwa
- Galima Bukharbaeva
2006
- Atwar Bahjat
- Madi Ceesay
- Jamal Amer
- Jesús Abad Colorado
2007
- Gao Qinrong
- Adela Navarro Bello
- Dmitry Muratov
- Mazhar Abbas
2008
- Bilal Hussein
- Danish Karokhel
- Farida Nekzad
- Andrew Mwenda
- Héctor Maseda Gutiérrez
2009
- J. S. Tissainayagam
- Eynulla Fatullayev
- Naziha Réjiba
- Mustafa Haji Abdinur
2010
- Laureano Márquez
- Dawit Kebede
- Nadira Isayeva
- Mohammad Davari
2011
- Mansoor al-Jamri
- Natalya Radina
- Javier Valdez Cárdenas
- Umar Cheema
2012
- Mauri König
- Dhondup Wangchen
- Azimzhan Askarov
- Mae Azango
2013
- Janet Hinostroza
- Bassem Youssef
- Nedim Şener
- Nguyễn Văn Hải
2014
- Aung Zaw
- Siamak Ghaderi
- Mikhail Zygar
- Ferial Haffajee
2015
- Zulkiflee Anwar Haque
- Raqqa is Being Slaughtered Silently
- Cándido Figueredo Ruíz
- Zone 9 Bloggers
2016
- Mahmoud Abou Zeid
- Malini Subramaniam
- Can Dündar
- Óscar Martínez
2017
- Ahmed Abba
- Patricia Mayorga
- Afrah Nasser
- Pravit Rojanaphruk
2018
- Amal Habani
- Nguyen Ngoc Nhu Quynh
- Luz Mely Reyes
- Anastasia Stanko
2019
- Neha Dixit
- Patrícia Campos Mello
- Lucía Pineda Ubau and Miguel Mora
- Maxence Melo Mubyazi

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Shi_Tao_(journalist)&oldid=1209793631"

Background

Arrest and imprisonment

Yahoo!'s role

Awards and recognition

See also

References