Whistle-blowing Chinese journalist vows to continue exposing corruption as Beijing prosecutors drop charges of defamation
Whistle-blowing journalist Liu Hu has vowed to continue with investigative journalism, after Beijing prosecutors decided not to indict him with defamation for posting online reports about corrupt officials.
Liu Hu was arrested by Beijing police in August 2013, after he posted a series of articles online alleging the corruption of several officials, some of them at vice-ministerial level.
Liu, who had been working with Guangzhou’s New Express at the time, was released on bail after almost a year in August 2014. Prosecutors in Beijing told him on Thursday that his charge had been dropped, due to insufficient evidence.
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“I will still go after clues about corruption if I have them,” said Liu Hu, 40, now a reporter with Chongqing’s Changjiang Times. “It’s not that I fear anything, but I might publish [allegations] in the paper, instead of putting them online in my name,” he said.
Liu’s arrest in 2013 raised eyebrows as the Communist Party’s anti-corruption watchdog had pledged to “get to the bottom” of graft as part of President Xi Jinping’s sweeping anti-corruption campaign, and Liu seemed to be helping.
I will still go after clues about corruption if I have them
Two of the officials mentioned in Liu’s posts, including former China Resources chairman Song Lin, were targeted by corruption inspectors in the months following Liu’s arrest. The party announced an investigation into Song last April. Yet Liu remained in custody until last August, when he was released on bail.
Liu’s arrest also came amid a nationwide campaign to crack down on online rumours, during which various critics and whistle-blowers were arrested on various charges.
Charles Xue Biqun, a billionaire venture capitalist who was once very critical of the government, was in August detained for soliciting prostitutes. Police later said Xue was suspected of “gathered pruriency” but he was released on bail last April, six months after his arrest.
Yet questions still remain whether Liu’s whistle-blowing posts are merely rumours.
“My facts are sound,” Liu said of the articles he posted two years ago. “Now my name is clear.”
Zhou Ze, Liu’s attorney, said the prosecutor’s decision did not entail any judgment about whether Liu’s reports were true.
Liu should not be charged with defamation, as long as he did not fabricate the information on purpose, Zhou added. “We hope discipline inspectors will investigate what Liu reported, but we have no idea whether they will,” he added.
Since the prosecutors don’t think Liu committed defamation, the police who arrested him are suspected of abuse of power, Zhou said.
Liu would seek compensation for the year’s detention, Zhou said.
