Chinese court rejects lawsuit filed by outspoken journal over sackings
No reason given for decision but lawyer representing management at ‘Yanhuang Chunqiu’ points to ‘external factors’
A Beijing district court on Friday refused to accept a lawsuit filed by outspoken political journal Yanhuang Chunqiu against its supervising organisation, the Chinese National Academy of Arts, over the sacking of its publisher and demotion of its chief editor, a lawyer said.
Yanhuang Chunqiu, which has the support of senior liberal veterans in the Communist Party, said the sacking last week breached a written agreement over the journal’s independence.
Their ambiguity indicated that the case ... was interfered with by some external factors
Beijing-based lawyer Mo Shaoping, who is one of two lawyers representing the magazine, saidthe case they filed one week ago in Chaoyang District Court, was turned down with no reason given. “The court refused to give us a reason in black and white, which we can use as a legal statement to appeal to an intermediate court,” Mo said.
Outspoken liberal Chinese magazine Yanhuang Chunqiu stops publication after management purge
“Their ambiguity indicated that the case, which is a simple case involving contract disputes between Yanhuang Chunqiu and its contract party, was interfered with by some external factors.”
It stopped publication on Sunday after a July 13 reshuffle of top management that included the sacking of long-time publisher Du Daozheng. Top management led by Du, 92, decided to sue the academy and hired Mo and his colleague Ding Xikui to represent the magazine.
“The academy’s move to unilaterally terminate the agreement by removing all the newsroom staff and appointing a new management is a typical defaulting move,” Mo said.