CITIZEN JOURNALISTS, VIDEOBLOGGERS, ACTIVISTS DETAINED IN BEIJING SIX DETAINED SINCE EARLY MORNING, AUGUST 19TH

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August 20, 2008

Contacts: In Asia, Lhadon Tethong, Executive Director, and Kate Woznow, Campaigns Director, +1 917 289 0219 or +44 20 7084 6245

For the latest information and photos please visit: http://freetibet2008.org/globalactions/citizenjournalists/

CITIZEN JOURNALISTS, VIDEOBLOGGERS, ACTIVISTS DETAINED IN BEIJING
SIX DETAINED SINCE EARLY MORNING, AUGUST 19TH

Beijing - Brian Conley, creator of the well-known videoblog “Alive in Baghdad” was detained with his friend, Jeffrey Rae, early Tuesday, August 19th in Beijing. Their detention appears to have taken place at the same time as that of international artist James Powderly, whose detention was reported Tuesday. Three other bloggers and activists, Jeff Goldin, Michael Liss, and Tom Grant, have also been missing since Tuesday morning. Conley, 28, Rae, 28, Goldin, 40, Liss, 35, Grant, 39 are all American citizens.

The five “citizen journalists” and activists were in Beijing to support and promote human rights, freedom of expression, and freedom for the Tibetan people. They and numerous others have acted as an independent media centre for the dozens of pro-Tibet activists in Beijing who have sought to draw attention to the Chinese government’s occupation of Tibet during the Olympics. Rae and Conley shot and released online high-resolution photographs and footage of the recent protest by Students for a Free Tibet supporters at the Chinese Ethnic Culture Park.

According to hotel staff, Rae and Conley checked out of their hotel in Beijing before dawn Tuesday morning. At 12:30pm Beijing time on Tuesday, Conley’s wife in Philadelphia received a text message from him reading “In Jail. All fine.” A “twitter” message to Students for a Free Tibet suggested that they were being held with James Powderly, the artist and co-founder of Graffiti Research Lab who was preparing to debut a new work and technology of protest, the L.A.S.E.R. Stencil. (See http://freetibet2008.org/globalactions/jamespowderly/)

The detention of the citizen journalists comes amidst reports Tuesday and Wednesday that iTunes has been blocked by China’s internet firewall, likely due to its sale of a pro-Tibet album, “Songs for Tibet – the Art of Peace.” The producers have encouraged Olympic athletes to download the album free of charge as a gesture of support for Tibet and freedom of expression.

Students for a Free Tibet has staged seven protests in Beijing over the last two weeks, placing the issue of Tibet’s occupation front and centre as China hosts the Olympic Games. The protests have included a dramatic banner hang near the Bird’s Nest Stadium, a display of Tibetan flags near the Bird’s Nest just before the opening ceremony began, a symbolic die-in at Tiananmen Square, a protest by a Tibetan woman with flags outside Tiananmen Square, a blockade of the Chinese Ethnic Culture Park, and “Free Tibet” banner hang outside the CCTV headquarters. Thirty-seven members and supporters have been detained and deported, not including those detained today.

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