For Immediate Release: Eight Tibet Supporters Arrive Home to New York from Beijing After Being Jailed by Chinese Authorities During Olympic Games

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE—Monday, August 25, 2008

Contacts: In New York-Celia Alario, +1917 289 0219; Amy Lisbeth +1 917 860 6470; In UK-Han Shan and Tenzin Dorjee +44 7767 083768 or +44 7876 327143

JOURNALISTS, ARTIST AND ACTIVISTS WILL HOLD PRESS AVAILABILITY MONDAY 1PM ON FRONT STEPS OF NY CITY HALL
(Immediately Following Press Conference by Reporters Without Borders)

***Photos and bios available at http://freetibet2008.org/globalactions/beijing10
and http://freetibet2008.org/globalactions/citizenjournalists/

WHAT: Media availability for eight American Tibet supporters who were jailed by Chinese authorities in Beijing during the Olympics. Artist, two activists and six independent journalists/video bloggers will be available for interviews.

WHEN: Monday August 25, 2008 at 1:00pm

WHERE: Front Steps of New York City Hall

WHO: Eight Americans detained in China after being sentenced to extrajudicial detention

Artist James Powderly, 32, of New York (originally from Tennessee); independent journalists Brian Conley, 28, of Philadelphia, Jeffrey Rae, 28, of New York, Michael Liss, 35, of New York, and Jeffrey Goldin, 40, of New York; and independent filmmaker Tom Grant, 39, of New York. All six were detained on August 19th. Also returning home are activists Jeremy Wells, 38, of New York and John Watterberg, 30, of New York, both detained at 12:05am Beijing time on August 21, 2008.

WHY: Students for a Free Tibet activists worldwide welcome the return of eight American Tibet supporters jailed by Chinese authorities in Beijing during the Olympics.

“The Beijing Olympics have become synonymous with overt Chinese government propaganda, heavy-handed security and intolerance of any form of protest or dissent,” said Tom Grant, an independent filmmaker detained while covering pro-Tibet demonstrations in Beijing.

In order to conceal its intensifying repression in Tibet, the Chinese government has completely sealed off most of the Tibetan plateau. Tibetans in Tibet and Tibet analysts fear an escalation of the Chinese government’s clampdown in Tibet after the Olympic spotlight on China has moved on. Tibetans continue to live in a climate of surveillance, intimidation, acute fear, and a threat of violence from Chinese troops, paramilitary, and police. “Thousands of Tibetans remain missing or detained in China’s ongoing crackdown against predominantly peaceful protests that began in Lhasa on March 10th and moved like a tidal wave across Tibet,” said Tenzin Dorjee, Deputy Director of Students for a Free Tibet. “During the Olympics, Tibetans have seen an intense troop build-up throughout the entire Tibetan plateau that suggests Chinese authorities are preparing a new assault against defenseless Tibetans who risked everything this spring, taking to the streets to demand human rights and freedom.”

Fifty-five activists from the USA, UK, Canada, Germany, Tibet, Australia, and Japan, including three Tibetans with foreign passports, have been detained and deported for participating in, observing or supporting pro-Tibet protests in Beijing since August 6th.

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Notes for editors:

For more on the work and activities of those detained see the following links:

Jeff Rae (photographer): photos from SFT Ethnic Park protest: http://freetibet2008.org/globalactions/ethnicpark/

Mike Liss (writer/blogger): Interview with filmmaker for KGB Lit Mag: http://www.kgbbar.com/lit/features/andrew_berends_.html

James Powderly - L.A.S.E.R. Stencil - http://graffitiresearchlab.com/?p=161

Brian Conley - http://aliveinbaghdad.org/2008/08/11/iraqi-children-fight-on-all-sides/