Jailed Chinese Journalist's Mother Sues Yahoo in U.S. Court

HONG KONG—Chinese journalist Shi Tao was sentenced to 10 years imprisonment after Yahoo revealed his personal details to the Chinese authorities. His mother, Gao Qinsheng, said in Hong Kong on June 10 that she had sued Yahoo Inc. via a U.S. law firm through the U.S. court system. Gao urged Western countries to regulate online privacy so that Internet providers cannot disclose customers' personal information any more.

Gao Qinsheng said at a press conference that she had just come back from South Africa where she on Shi Tao's behalf accepted the Golden Pen of Freedom 2007 Award from the World Association of Newspapers. She is most proud of her son for winning this award. The award, Gao remarked, is not only a great honor for Shi Tao, but also a comfort for his heart. She said the award belongs to all journalists who have contributed to protecting and promoting freedom of the press.

Gao expressed her gratitude to media around the world who have paid continuous attention and support to her and her son ever since Shi Tao was sentenced to jail in 2005 for "leaking state secrets." Their support, she said, has helped them to persist for so long. She called on Western countries to enable legislation to forbid multinational Internet providers, including Yahoo, from revealing customers' personal information, because it is a violation of human rights and freedom. Only by proper legislation, said Gao, can we make sure no other people would have to suffer what Shi Tao has been through.

Gao believes that Shi Tao has done nothing but what any conscientious journalist would do. That is why he won the support and sympathy of his colleagues all over the world, and it is also why he is treated as a criminal who "threatens national security and people's interests" by the Chinese authorities.

Gao described Shi Tao as an intelligent young man with a promising future and a simple and kind heart. Now that he is sentenced to 10 years of imprisonment, his future and his family are all ruined. She told reporters that Shi Tao's wife, also a journalist, was forced to divorce Shi Tao under extreme political pressure.

Gao has retired, and her husband has passed away. Now the only thing that keeps her going is the monthly visit to her son in prison when she and her son can encourage each other.

Even now, having come back from South Africa, Gao still could hardly believe she actually succeeded in leaving China and accepting the award. She said the World Association of Newspapers must have put in a lot of effort to make her trip happen.

Chinese Regime Deems Shi Tao a Political Prisoner

Gao mentioned that after Shi Tao was jailed the damp cell caused him skin disease. Now he has gradually got used to the situation, but he now suffers from gastric disease. Gao needs to frequently send medicine to him, but she complained Shi Tao never gets the medicine in time because it takes a long time for the prison to check the medicine.

Shi Tao was working at jewel-polishing in the prison when Gao Qinsheng visited him on May 13. After it was decided that she would go to South Africa to accept the award, the head of the prison had a talk with Shi Tao and changed his physical work. Shi Tao's family has requested the authorities to give Shi Tao some time to study, and to do a health check for him. But as Shi Tao is labeled the political prisoner who threatens national security, the prison guards don't dare to help them, which posed more difficulties for them and left them more helpless.

Gao also said that as a political prisoner Shi Tao is under rigid supervision. Since his imprisonment, Gao has never talked to her son without someone monitoring them. The monitor would stop their meeting right away if they mention anything happening in the outside world.

Gao said she is suffering from coronary heart disease, so she fears she may not be able to live to see her son released from prison. What troubles her most is how her son would survive once freed from prison, because he will have no job, no family, and no money. Shi Tao would not be able to publish anything in mainland China, thus he will have no source of income, said Gao with much apprehension.

Gao regards Shi Tao's winning the Golden Pen of Freedom Award as a proof of his innocence. She said she would not stop appealing for Shi Tao and suing Yahoo. This is not only for Shi Tao, but also to make sure no other innocent people would have to suffer like this.

Gao Qinsheng came to Hong Kong to entrust legislative council member Ho Chun-yan to hire an American attorney to file charges against Yahoo Inc. in the U.S.

Ho Chun-yan said that he has already entrusted the case to an American law firm which specializes in human rights law suits. The firm filed charges at a California court in May against Yahoo for providing Shi Tao and another victim's personal information to the Chinese authorities. Yahoo Hong Kong Limited, Yahoo headquarter in the U.S. and Alibaba.com are all on the defendant list. According to U.S. law, the plaintiff will compel Yahoo to pay damages or compensation for the disclosure of its clients' person information.

Ho Chun-yan also announced that he will raise strong protest to the Administrative Appeals Board against the decision made by the Office of the Privacy Commissioner for Personal Data in March that Yahoo! Hong Kong Limited did not infringe Shi Tao's privacy, Ho Chun-yan believes the hearing of this case will start in the second half of the year.

Thirty-nine-year-old Shi Tao is a Chinese journalist, poet and writer. While working for the Hunan Province newspaper Contemporary Business Daily, he used his Yahoo.com email account to send an article regarding an oral directive from the head of the newspaper which forbade journalists from reporting about the 15th anniversary of the June 4 Tiananmen Square Massacre. The article was later published on an overseas Web site.

After that, the Chinese National Security Bureau requested the personal details of the account-holder from Yahoo Hong Kong Ltd., which later revealed the sender's address and identity. The information Yahoo provided was used in court to convict Shi Tao.

In March 2005, Shi Tao was charged with the crime of "leaking state secrets" and sentenced to 10 years imprisonment and two years' deprivation of political rights. He is currently serving his sentence at the Chishan Prison in Hunan's Yuanjiang City.