又一中国作家被拘：周远志被捕使系狱作家达40人
（纽约—多伦多—斯德哥尔摩2008年5月6日讯）独立中文笔会会员、作家周远志因其写作被拘留，可能面临“煽动颠覆”的审判。这一发展是笔会称为“中国在北京奥运会前对言论自由正进行打击的又一令人不安的显示”。
周远志自5月3日一直被拘禁。根据笔会信息，周远志及其太太被湖北省钟祥市国家安全局的警察带走后，其太太被释放软禁，而周以涉嫌“煽动颠覆”——一项在中国对付作家的罪名被正式拘留。5月6日打到他家的电话一直无人接听，电话恐怕已被切断。
现年47岁的周远志是一位自由作家，在香港已出版两本书，并在海外中文杂志和网站上，以多个笔名共发表500多篇作品，包括政论文、报道、散文和短篇小说。他的许多文章是抨击社会问题和官员腐败。
周远志于1988年毕业于中南财经大学，此后成为税务官员。1992年，他向美国之音投稿被国家安全警察截住后，被解除钟祥市税务局城区分局副局长的职务，并被开除中共党籍。
美国笔会、加拿大笔会和独立中文笔会，属于国际笔会在全世界的145个分会。国际笔会致力推进世界各地作家间的友谊和理性合作，为言论自由奋斗，代表世界文学的良知。2007年12月10日，三笔会启动了“我们为言论自由准备好了”的奥运会倒计时行动，抗议中国监禁至少40名作家和新闻工作者，寻求终止在该国的互联网审查以及对自由写作的其它限制。更多信息请参阅： www.pen.org ，www.pencanada.ca和www.chinesepen.org。
联系人：
加拿大笔会伊莎贝尔·哈里（Isobel Harry），(416) 703-8448 ext. 22, [email protected]
美国笔会拉里·赛姆斯（Larry Siems），(212) 334-1660 ext. 111, [email protected]
独立中文笔会张裕，+46-8-50022792, [email protected]
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加拿大笔会伊莎贝尔·哈里（Isobel Harry），(416) 703-8448 ext. 22, [email protected]
美国笔会拉里·赛姆斯（Larry Siems），(212) 334-1660 ext. 111, [email protected]
独立中文笔会张裕，+46-8-50022792, [email protected]
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
For more information contact:
For more information contact:
Larry Siems, PEN American Center, (212) 334-1660 ext. 105, [email protected]
Isobel Harry, PEN Canada, (416) 703-8448 ext. 22, [email protected]
Yu Zhang, Independent Chinese PEN Center, +46-8-50022792, [email protected]
Isobel Harry, PEN Canada, (416) 703-8448 ext. 22, [email protected]
Yu Zhang, Independent Chinese PEN Center, +46-8-50022792, [email protected]
Another Chinese Writer Detained
Arrest of Zhou Yuanzhi brings number of imprisoned writers to 40
Arrest of Zhou Yuanzhi brings number of imprisoned writers to 40
New York, Toronto, Stockholm, May 6, 2008—Zhou Yuanzhi, a writer and member of the Independent Chinese PEN Center, has been detained in connection with his writings and could face trial for inciting subversion, a development PEN called “another troublesome indication that a crackdown on freedom of expression is underway in China ahead of the Beijing Olympic Games.”
Zhou Yuanzhi has been in custody since May 3, 2008. According to PEN’s sources, Zhou and his wife were taken away by the police of the National Security Bureau of Zhongxiang City, Hubei Province. His wife was released and placed under house arrest. Zhou is still in custody, and has been formally detained on suspicion of inciting subversion, a charge used against many writers in China. Calls to Zhous home remained unanswered as of May 6, provoking fears that his phone line has been cut.
Zhou Yuanzhi, aged 47, is a freelance writer who has published two books in Hong Kong, as well as over 500 pieces of writing under several pen names in overseas Chinese magazines and on overseas Web sites, and have included political commentaries, reportages, essays and short stories. Many of his articles have been critiques on social issues and official corruption.
Zhou graduated from the Zhongnan University of Economics in 1988 and then became a taxation official. In 1992, after an article he contributed to Voice of America was censored by the National Security police, he was dismissed from his post as deputy chief of the Downtown Branch of Taxation Bureau of Zhongxiang City and expelled from the Communist Party of China.
PEN American Center, PEN Canada, and the Independent Chinese PEN Center are among the 145 worldwide centers of International PEN, an organization that works to promote friendship and intellectual co-operation among writers everywhere, to fight for freedom of expression, and represent the conscience of world literature. On December 10, 2007, the centers launched We Are Ready for Freedom of Expression, an Olympic countdown campaign to protest Chinas imprisonment of at least 40 writers and journalists and to seek an end to internet censorship and other restrictions on the freedom to write in that country. For more information, please visit www.pen.org/china2008, www.pencanada.ca, and www.chinesepen.org.