No subject

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/23/sports/olympics/23protest.html
August 23, 2008
China Gives 6 American Protesters 10-Day Detentions
By ANDREW JACOBS

BEIJING - A group of six Americans who were taken into custody on Tuesday as
they tried to protest China's rule in Tibet have been given 10-day
detentions, the Chinese police confirmed Friday.

But activists from the New York-based Students for a Free Tibet said Friday
that they had no information about four other protesters who were detained
early Thursday during a protest near National Stadium, also known as the
Bird's Nest. The four are two Americans, a German and a Briton.

Extrajudicial detentions, a common punishment for Chinese dissidents, are
rarely handed out to foreigners, who are often deported almost immediately
after being taken into custody.

Members of Students for a Free Tibet have staged eight protests involving 55
people since the Olympics began on Aug. 8. Human rights advocates speculated
that the government might be seeking to deter those contemplating similar
activities in the Games' final days.

J. Alexander Hamilton, a spokesman for the American Embassy in Beijing, said
United States officials were working with Chinese authorities to gain more
information about the detainees. "Our policy is to encourage the Chinese
government to respect free expression and freedom of religion, which are
protected by law," he said.

Reached by phone, Public Security Bureau officials declined to comment but
faxed a two-sentence statement explaining that the six Americans had been
"apprehended for upsetting public order." The statement, which did not
include the detainees' names, said the men were being held at the Dongcheng
police station in Beijing.

According to Students for a Free Tibet, among those in custody are Brian
Conley, 28, a video blogger from Philadelphia, and James Powderly, 31, an
artist from New York who had planned to project the words "Free Tibet" on a
building with laser beams. The others are Jeff Goldin, 40, Michael Liss, 35,
and Tom Grant, 39, all from New York; and Jeffrey Rae, 28, from
Philadelphia. Five other Americans who were detained Tuesday were deported
Wednesday. They had raised a banner near National Stadium with "Free Tibet"
spelled out in lights in English and Chinese.

The organization was founded in New York in 1994 and claims 650 chapters
worldwide, at schools in more than 30 nations. Most of its demonstrations
here have involved unfurling "Free Tibet" banners or displaying Tibetan
flags, which are illegal in China.

In the latest action, just after midnight Thursday morning, four protesters
raised their fists and shouted slogans while waving a Tibetan flag near
National Stadium. As with the other protests, the participants were quickly
bundled away by plainclothes officers.

Lhadon Tethong, executive director of Students for a Free Tibet, said that
German and British consular officials had told the families of the German
and British detainees that they, too, would probably receive 10-day
sentences.

Two photographers at the scene for The Associated Press were also roughed up
and taken into custody, according to news agency reports and press freedom
advocates. After the photographers were questioned separately for 30 to 40
minutes, the police confiscated the memory cards from their cameras.

In the past month, the Foreign Correspondents Club of China has received
dozens of complaints from overseas journalists who were detained, trailed or
had equipment damaged by the police.

"When it comes to media freedom during the Olympics, China is not even on
the awards podium," said Jonathan Watts, the club's president.

On Friday, Students for a Free Tibet declared that its Olympics campaign had
succeeded and that it was winding down. In characteristically stealthy
fashion, the announcement was made by two members who summoned reporters to
a street corner with 20 minutes' notice.

The members, Alice Speller and Ginger Cassady, said that even though the
protests had been fleeting and witnessed by only a few Chinese, they had
helped highlight the issue in the foreign media.

"China is trying to show the world this face, that they are a modern,
progressive country, but that really isn't the truth," said Ms. Speller, a
law student from Britain. "The real face is one that denies freedom of
expression, and that denies it brutally and violently when it can."

Soon after the news conference began, police officers arrived and began
videotaping. But with no banners or Tibetan flags on display, the officers
appeared to lose interest and drove away. The women seemed both relieved and
disappointed.

Asked whether the group might be planning any more protests, Ms. Speller
shook her head and said, "We're the last two standing," before heading down
the street surrounded by a scrum of cameras.