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Taiwan publishers warn against visiting China as editor held

Publishers in Taiwan cautioned against visiting mainland China and Hong Kong after the detention of editor Li Yanhe, who went missing and is now suspected of national security crimes.

The incident has created a chilling effect on Taiwan’s literary community, with concerns extending to media professionals and even individuals critical of China on social media. Activists and journalists have expressed alarm over the situation, calling for Li’s release and decrying China’s crackdown on freedoms.

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TAIPEI, TAIWAN — Publishers in Taiwan warned their peers Friday not to visit mainland China and Hong Kong after an editor from the self-ruled island who went missing was detained on suspicion of national security crimes.

Activists and journalists in Taiwan sounded the alarm last month over the disappearance of China-born Li Yanhe, who lives in Taiwan and is the editor-in-chief of Gusa Publishing, which releases political titles.

Beijing then confirmed that he has been placed under investigation for “endangering national security”.

In Taipei, on Friday Taiwan-based editors and activists told a press briefing that Li’s case had cast a “chilling effect” on the island’s literary community and many now feared going to China.

Joshua Wang, a former colleague of Li, said people working in the media, publishing and cultural sectors have been urging those in the industry to stay away.

“It doesn’t just apply to the publishing industry — even people who wrote something critical of China on Facebook are afraid,” he said.

“Don’t even transit through Hong Kong.”

Chinese President Xi Jinping has presided over a crackdown on freedoms during his decade in power, with pressure stepped up on dissidents, rights groups and other critics of the government.

Li’s case echoes the disappearance in 2015 of five Hong Kong booksellers who distributed gossip-filled titles about China’s leaders. The group later resurfaced in Chinese custody.

A dissident poet said last month it was believed Li had been “secretly detained” in Shanghai while visiting family in March.

Independent bookstore owner Chang Cheng said Friday he would not “dare go to China”.

“Are the two sides going to continue like this? This is not okay,” he said.

Li goes by the pen name Fucha. His Gusa company publishes books on the history and politics of China’s ruling Communist Party, including one title on the alleged oppression of Uyghurs in the far-western region of Xinjiang.

China’s broadly worded national security law forbids any “separatist activities” or “subversion”, among other acts deemed threatening to the state.

Chinese authorities in 2017 jailed a Taiwanese democracy activist, Lee Ming-che, for five years for national security crimes. He was released last year.

Cedric Alviani, East Asia bureau director for press freedom watchdog Reporters Without Borders, called for Li’s immediate release.

He criticised what he called a “large-scale crusade against journalism and freedom of information” in China.

— AFP

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AFP

Singapore hangs 14th drug convict since last year

Singapore executed Mohd Aziz bin Hussain, convicted of drug trafficking, amid a resumption of executions in 2022. Another woman prisoner, Saridewi Djamani, faces execution.

Amnesty International urged Singapore to halt the executions, questioning the deterrent effect of the death penalty.

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1 year ago

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26 July 2023

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SINGAPORE, SINGAPORE — Singapore on Wednesday hanged a local man convicted of drug trafficking, officials said, two days before the scheduled execution of the first woman prisoner in the city-state in nearly 20 years.

Mohd Aziz bin Hussain, convicted and sentenced to death in 2017 for trafficking “not less than 49.98 grams” (1.76 ounces) of heroin, was executed at Changi Prison, the Central Narcotics Bureau said in a statement.

The 57-year-old was the 14th convict sent to the gallows since the government resumed executions in March 2022 after a two-year pause during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Hussain’s previous appeals against his conviction and sentence had been dismissed, and a petition for presidential clemency was also denied.

A woman drug convict, 45-year-old Saridewi Djamani, is scheduled to be hanged on Friday, according to the local rights group Transformative Justice Collective (TJC).

She was sentenced to death in 2018 for trafficking around 30 grams of heroin.

If carried out, Djamani would be the first woman executed in Singapore since 2004, when 36-year-old hairdresser Yen May Woen was hanged for drug trafficking, according to TJC activist Kokila Annamalai.

Singapore has some of the world’s toughest anti-drug laws — trafficking more than 500 grams of cannabis or over 15 grams of heroin can result in the death penalty.

Rights watchdog Amnesty International on Tuesday urged Singapore to halt the executions, saying there was no evidence the death penalty acted as a deterrent to crime.

“It is unconscionable that authorities in Singapore continue to cruelly pursue more executions in the name of drug control,” Amnesty death penalty expert Chiara Sangiorgio said in a statement.

Singapore, however, insists that the death penalty has helped make it one of Asia’s safest countries.

Among those hanged since last year was Nagaenthran K. Dharmalingam, whose execution sparked a global outcry, including from the United Nations and British tycoon Richard Branson, because he was deemed to have a mental disability.

— AFP

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AFP

Singapore to execute first woman in nearly 20 years: rights groups

Singapore set to execute two drug convicts, including first woman in 20 years, despite rights groups’ calls to stop.

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1 year ago

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25 July 2023

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SINGAPORE, SINGAPORE — Singapore is set to hang two drug convicts this week, including the first woman to be sent to the gallows in nearly 20 years, rights groups said Tuesday, while urging the executions be halted.

Local rights organisation Transformative Justice Collective (TJC) said a 56-year-old man convicted of trafficking 50 grams (1.76 ounces) of heroin is scheduled to be hanged on Wednesday at the Southeast Asian city-state’s Changi Prison.

A 45-year-old woman convict who TJC identified as Saridewi Djamani is also set to be sent to the gallows on Friday. She was sentenced to death in 2018 for trafficking around 30 grams of heroin.

If carried out, she would be the first woman to be executed in Singapore since 2004 when 36-year-old hairdresser Yen May Woen was hanged for drug trafficking, said TJC activist Kokila Annamalai.

TJC said the two prisoners are Singaporeans and their families have received notices setting the dates of their executions.

Prison officials have not answered emailed questions from AFP seeking confirmation.

Singapore imposes the death penalty for certain crimes, including murder and some forms of kidnapping.

It also has some of the world’s toughest anti-drug laws: trafficking more than 500 grams of cannabis and 15 grams of heroin can result in the death penalty.

At least 13 people have been hanged so far since the government resumed executions following a two-year hiatus in place during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Rights watchdog Amnesty International on Tuesday urged Singapore to halt the impending executions.

“It is unconscionable that authorities in Singapore continue to cruelly pursue more executions in the name of drug control,” Amnesty’s death penalty expert Chiara Sangiorgio said in a statement.

“There is no evidence that the death penalty has a unique deterrent effect or that it has any impact on the use and availability of drugs.

“As countries around the world do away with the death penalty and embrace drug policy reform, Singapore’s authorities are doing neither,” Sangiorgio added.

Singapore insists that the death penalty is an effective crime deterrent.

— AFP

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