Par: Diana Tung, Posté le: Jul 16 09

Regions: China

Issues: Freedom of opinion & expression

Tags: arbitrary detention, censorship, Freedom of Speech, internet, web 2.0

At about 9 am this morning, journalist and new media thinker Rebecca Mackinnon retweeted a message from user amoiist saying: "I have been arrested by Mawei police, SOS."  The original tweet was posted yesterday with another message asking for help.  amoiist is Peter Guo, an active blogger  in China.  He's previously written on internet censorship, as reported by Global Voices Online, and PC World notes that Guo's arrest is not an isolated incident.

The reason behind Guo's arrest is thought to be an interview that he recorded and uploaded of Lin Xiuying, whose daughter Yan Xiaoling was allegedly murdered by triad leaders in the Fujian province of China.  You can view the interview here (in Mandarin):

If you don't speak Mandarin, here are some things I've been able to gather from the interview with my very basic Mandarin: 

"My daughter grew up without a father, she's very responsible and was working to help support two younger brothers.  When she came home she immediately received a phone call to go.  I told her not to, but she said, "If i don't go they will hurt my brothers.  I am going in order to protect them."  If I had known they would have hurt her I would not have let her go...for something like this to happen to a twenty-something year old...it's so sad."

Lin Xiuying continues, saying that police pushed the investigation back week after week.  Mrs. Lin's brother also appears on camera, saying that the investigative procedure was very suspicious.

If anyone has a better grasp of Mandarin and can translate the above video, please let me know.  Also, if you have been following this issue closely, any tips on where to look for reliable information would be much appreciated.  I'll update with this post with any new information you send my way.