March 26, 2008 Reporters Without
Borders
to Keep Protesting against Olympics
Paris/Madrid
Three members of Reporters Without Borders (RSF) were detained for
10 hours at a Greek police station for denouncing China's human
rights record but the group has no plans to quit protesting and
promises a lot of action in the Olympic torch relay ahead of the
Beijing Games.
"Now that the torch relay has started, we are going to keep carrying
out actions in other cities," RSF number two Jean-François Julliard
said.
Along with two other members of the organisation, Julliard unfurled
a banner Monday in ancient Olympia: it depicted the Olympic rings
transformed into handcuffs in a protest critical of China's
human-rights record.
One of members approached Beijing Games chief Liu Qi during his
speech in front of hundreds of officials but was quickly led away by
the police before all three were arrested. Liu did not get
distracted by the commotion and continued his speech while
television footage cut away from the incident.
Protestors were taken to a nearby police station, where they were
detained for 10 hours until a lawyer informed them that they had
been charged with "offence against Olympic symbols".
Nobody at the International Olympic Committee (IOC) got in touch
with the three activists.
Greek police released the three demonstrators Tuesday, and they
quickly travelled to France, where RSF - which focuses on defending
freedom of expression - has its headquarters. They are expected back
in Greece May 29, to stand trial in the town of Pyrgos.
RSF intends to stir the international community into boycotting the
inaugural ceremony at Beijing 2008, to protest human rights
violations in China.
"The Olympic flame may be sacred but human rights are even more so,"
the group said in a statement.
The Chinese government condemned the protest as "shameful" and urged
all nations through which the torch passes on its way to Beijing for
the Summer Olympics to take precautions against planned
demonstrations.
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