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Online Journalism News

Alive in Baghdad blogger Brian Conley imprisoned by Chinese police

Posted: 21/08/08 By: Laura Oliver
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Screenshot of Reporters Without Borders website

Video blogger Brian Conley and photojournalist Jeffrey Rae have been detained by Chinese police in Beijing.

Americans Conley, creator of the Alive in Baghdad blog, and Rae were arrested on Tuesday while photographing pro-Tibet activists in Beijing, a report from Agence France-Presse (AFP) has said.

According to Reporters Without Borders (RSF), the pair have been sentenced to 10 days in prison for 'disrupting public order'.

Campaign group Students for a Free Tibet (SFT) has said three other citizen journalists - Jeff Goldin, Michael Liss and Tom Grant - are missing assumed detained by the Chinese authorities.

"These individuals were in Beijing to amplify Tibetan voices calling for freedom and human rights and the right of all people to freedom of expression. They are no more guilty of a crime than Tibetans or Chinese who speak out for justice and for the Chinese authorities to sentence them at all shows the government’s paranoia and intolerance of even the most peaceful challenges to its control," said Lhadon Tethong, executive director of SFT.

Last week ITV's China correspondent John Ray was detained by Chinese police, while Chinese blogger and citizen journalist Zhou 'Zola' Shuguang was placed under 'town arrest' to prevent him from travelling to Beijing.

According to RSF, 22 foreign journalists have been 'attacked or arrested or otherwise obstructed' during the Games.