GERMANY: Amnesty International demands the release of Chinese journalist Shi Tao

The German division of Amnesty International delivered 15,504 signatures to the Chinese Embassy in Berlin Friday (August 24), demanding for the release of imprisoned Chinese journalist, Shi Tao. "We are protesting for the release of Shi Tao, a Chinese journalist who has been sentenced to ten years. He is in custody only while he gave information on censorship of the press to a foreign NGO. We are here on the eve of the trip of the chancellor to China and hope that she will mention freedom of press and media in her talks with the Chinese government," said Barbara Lochbihler, General Secretary of Amnesty International. Amnesty International has stepped up its campaign for Shi Tao, hoping the over 15,000 signatures and Chancellor Merkel's visit to China will make an impact. "Repeatedly, we wrote to the Chinese embassy in particular cases or the abolishment of the death sentence and hope for talks. But so far it has been denied by the embassy. And especially now on the eve of the Olympic games in Beijing in 2008 we think it's high time that the Chinese embassy starts to open up and seek the communication with the NGOs," said Lochbihler. Shi Tao was sentenced in June, 2005, to a 10-year prison term for sending an email which included information on the government response to the Tiananmen Square massacre. Shi Tao had sent the email to the US from a Yahoo e-mail account, which was later

ITN Source | August 24, 2007

Tags:. .general. .hoping. .hope. .death. .international