Subject: HQ NR #7074: Global Petition Drive of Overseas Chinese Students & Scholars to the National People's Congress of China on Wei Jingsheng's Trial

From: [email-masked]
Date: Tue, 19 Dec 1995 15:32:48 -0500

*  *  *    N E W S   R E L E A S E   7074   *  *  *
             _________   December 19, 1995   __________

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IFCSS Foundation, Inc. 733 15th Street, NW  Suite 440 Washington,
     D.C. 20005   Tel: (202) 347-0017      Fax: (202) 347-0018
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 Global Petition Drive of Overseas Chinese Students & Scholars to the 
     National People's Congress of China on Wei Jingsheng's Trial

  A worldwide appeal drive has been initiated, to collect signatures
  from  overseas  Chinese  students  and scholars, and organizations  
  throughout the world, for co-signing and endorsing  the  following 
  appeal letter to the National People's Congress of  China  on  Wei 
  Jingsheng's trial and conviction.  Mr. Wei Jingsheng  had appealed 
  to the Beijing Supreme Court against the verdict  made by the Bei-
  jing Intermediate Court on December 13th, 1995. The following app-
  eal letter, from overseas Chinese, will be submitted to  the  Bei-
  jing Supreme Court, People's Supreme Court and the Standing Commi-
  ttee of  the National People's Congress. If Wei's appeal is rejec-
  ted,    we   expect  this  appeal letter would be presented to all 
  members  of  the  National People's Congress at its annual session
  in early 1996. Thanks for you care and support!
                    ____    ____    ____

  If you are willing to sign, send your signature to: [email-masked]

                      *   *   *   *   *

    Petition Letter of Overseas Chinese Students & Scholars to the
     National People's Congress of China on Wei Jingsheng's Trial

We, the undersigned Chinese students and scholars studying and working
overseas, were shocked to learn that  Mr. Wei Jingsheng,  a well-known
dissident  who  had peacefully voiced his opinions that were different 
from the government's,  was sentenced to 14 years in prison for "cons-
piring to overthrow the government".

We were particularly distressed by the fact that  Mr. Wei was secretly
arrested without any formal charge and kept incommunicado  for  twenty 
months prior to the announcement of his formal arrest,  which was only 
three weeks before his trial,  that  the  Beijing  Intermediate  Court 
notified Wei  Jingsheng's family about his trial only five days before 
it was held, giving  Wei's  family  barely  enough  time to find legal 
counsels for him,  not to mention allowing them adequate time for pre-
paration of the defense,   and that those legal counsels were not even 
allowed to see   Wei Jingsheng prior to the actual start of the trial, 
hence making it practically impossible for  Wei  Jingsheng  to have an 
effective defense in order to have a fair trial.  The  so-called "open 
trial" was also strictly controlled, exclusive to the concerned public, 
news media and individuals.  The  whole  trial  lasted  for only a few 
hours before the final sentence was passed.   These   facts cast great 
doubts over the fairness of China's current justice system.

To our knowledge, the government's treatment of  Mr. Wei Jingsheng  is 
in  severe  violation  of the Constitution of the People's Republic of 
China, the Law of Criminal Procedure of the People's Republic of China 
and the Article of the  Universal Declaration  of  Human Right,  which 
China has endorsed.   Wei Jingsheng  was  convicted  primarily for his 
expression of dissident opinions.   We   believe   that the freedom of 
speech is a  basic right guaranteed by China's Constitution.    No one 
should be  secretly  detained for 20 months without any formal charge; 
no one should be prosecuted for peaceful expression of their political 
views;  no  one should be deprived of the rights to defend him/herself 
in court; and no one should be tried unjustly.

We love our country and hope to see her strong and prosperous,  and we 
are concerned about China's social,  cultural, and economical develop-
ments.  However,   we  also  believe that those developments should be 
achieved in parallel  to  the  promotion  of universal respect for and 
observance of the fundamental freedom of speech and belief,  and basic 
human rights.   The injust trial and conviction of   Wei Jingsheng can 
bring nothing but disappointment,  dismay and resentment to the people  
of China, which in turn will  lead to social instability and potential 
chaos in our country.

China's  development also needs a favorable international environment. 
We strongly believe  that ignorance and negligence of  widely-accepted 
human rights standards,  such  as no illegal detention and deprival of 
citizens' rights for fair trials, would severely tarnish China's image, 
isolate itself from the international community,  strain  its relation 
with other countries,  and  hinder its development in the long run. In 
today's world,  a  country's human rights records are constantly moni-
tored by the international community. Brutal human rights abuses,  and 
repression  of  peacefully  expressed  dissent  opinions will not only 
bring embarrassment to billions  of  Chinese  living both in China and 
overseas,  but  also  undermine  China's  reputation  in the world and 
damage China's national interest as a whole.

The National People's Congress (NPC),  as  China's highest legislative 
power, is  the  supreme  body and authority to make laws and supervise 
their implementations,  safeguard  the  dignity of the Constitution of 
the People's Republic of China,  and  protect fundamental human rights 
of individual citizens by the rule of law.  We,  the undersigned over-
seas Chinese students and scholars,  hereby  appeal  to  the  National 
People's Congress to:

1. Investigate the trial of  Mr. Wei Jingsheng  conducted  on December 
13th, 1995 in Beijing Intermediate Court, for its  legality,  justice, 
and validity;

2. Take necessary  actions  to  guarantee  Mr. Wei Jingsheng to have a 
fair and just trial for his appeal.   Wei Jingsheng,   as  any Chinese 
citizen, is entitled to every right granted by the Constitution of the 
People's Republic of China.  The  trial of Wei Jingsheng must be truly 
open, conducted under the scrutiny  of concerned public and covered by 
the news media.

3. Adopt  necessary  measures  to prevent law enforcement agencies and 
other parties or  individuals from manipulating and violating the law, 
and punish those officials  who  have  committed politically motivated 
unlawful acts.

China is undergoing great changes.   We hope that the country we would 
return  to will have improved political  environment  to  allow people 
true freedom of thinking and freedom of expression. We hope that China 
will have true  social and political  stability  achieved  by allowing 
different opinions to be aired and discussed in public.  We  hope that 
every individual's basic right and human  dignity will be respected so 
that no one is treated as a criminal just because of his/her political 
views or religious belief. And  we  hope  China  will not only prosper 
economically, but also become a place where people can live truly with 
freedom.

Sincerely,

_________________ (Signed)

  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
   NOTE for SIGNITURE: Simply Send Your Name to: [email-masked]
        Multiple Signatures & Organizations Are Accepted
  Your Institution/Occupation Is Not Required But It Is Optional
       Which Will Not Appear In Submitted Petition Document
                       Further Information:  
                          [email-masked]
                          202 347 0017 (Voice)
                          202 347 0018 (Fax)
  ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

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