He Depu
He Depu (Chinese: 何德普; pinyin: Hé Dépǔ; born 28 October 1956) is a dissident in the People's Republic of China.
Biography
[edit]He was employed at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences in Beijing. Political activist who took part in the Democracy Wall movement, he was founder of Beijing Youth magazine in 1979.[citation needed]
In 1998, he helped found the proscribed China Democracy Party, but lost his job at the Social Sciences Academy after standing as a candidate in local elections in 1990.[citation needed]
He Depu was tried in a two-hour hearing on 14 October 2002 for his links to the outlawed China Democracy Party, of which he is a member, and for posting essays on the Internet that "incited subversion."[1]
He was one of the 192 signatories of an Open Letter to the 16th National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party in November 2002.[2]
On 4 November 2002, he was arrested,[3] and received an eight-year sentence for dissident activity on the Internet on 6 November 2003.[4]
In 2008, while in Beijing No. 2 Prison, his health began to deteriorate. He suffered from high blood pressure and did not receive appropriate treatment.[5] In August 2008 he sent a letter to International Olympic Committee head Jacques Rogge, decrying the conditions in Chinese prisons, which he claims to have worsened.[6]
He Depu was released from prison on 24 January 2011. The day of his release he was beaten by four police officers.[7]
References
[edit]- ^ "Reporters Without Borders concerned about health of cyberdissident He Depu". Reporters sans frontiers. 2 March 2004. Archived from the original on 2 May 2005.
- ^ "Cyberdissident Ouyang Yi released at the end of his sentence". Reporters sans frontiers. 7 December 2004. Archived from the original on 24 November 2006.
- ^ "Call for clemency for dissident He Depu". Reporters sans frontiers. 15 October 2003. Archived from the original on 29 June 2006.
- ^ "Cyber-dissident He Depu begins third year in prison". Reporters sans frontiers. 4 November 2004. Archived from the original on 27 November 2005.
- ^ HRIC Case Update: Health at Risk for Jailed Democracy Activist He Depu Archived 26 April 2008 at the Wayback Machine, Human Rights in China
- ^ "Chinese prisons have worsened, dissident tells IOC chief". Archived from the original on 7 July 2009. Retrieved 7 August 2008.
- ^ "Released after Eight-Year Prison Term, Activist He Depu Is Beaten by Police, Describes Torture". Human Rights in China. 24 January 2011.