Overseas
Chinese Democracy Coalition News and Article Release Issue Number: A1666-O398
中国民主运动海外联席会议新闻与文章发布号：A1666-O398
Release Date: June
1, 2024
发布日：2024年6月1日
Topic: IFCSS
2024 Spirit of Freedom Award Dedication to Mr. Zhang Guiqi (Pen name: Lu Yang)
标题：全美学自联授予张桂祺（笔名鲁扬）2024年度“全美学自联自由精神奖”的颁奖词
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IFCSS 2024
Spirit of Freedom Award Dedication to Mr. Zhang Guiqi (Pen name: Lu Yang)
June 1st, 2024
The
Independent Federation of Chinese Students and Scholars (IFCSS) Council has
decided to award the IFCSS 2024 Spirit of Freedom Award to Mr. Zhang Guiqi. Mr.
Zhang was born in Shen County, Shandong, in 1971. He is commonly known by the
public by his pen name “Lu Yang” and his online name “Lu xi kuang tu”. Mr.
Zhang is a well-known political dissident poet and writer from Liaocheng,
Shandong.
Mr. Zhang
began his poetry creation career in 1994. He founded “The Yangziwan Poetry
Society” and “China Modern Poetry Forum”. He was the leading editor and
published “China Modern Poetry” and other famous Chinese poetry journals.
However, due to his dedication to democratic writing which became quite
influential in Chinese poetry society, the Chinese Communist government
forcibly shut down multiple of his founded poetry media platforms. Meanwhile,
Mr. Zhang actively participated in a variety of Chinese pro-democratic
activities, such as co-signing Charter 08 and joining the Independent Chinese
PEN Center/ICPC. His pro-democratic participation directly led to severe
persecution from the CCP to his family. The CCP pressured both Mr. Zhang and
his wife’s workplace supervisors to terminate their teaching positions at
multiple different schools. To sustain a basic living, Mr. Zhang and his wife
with their daughter had been forced to move to several cities in Southern China
to seek job opportunities. Yet, the persecution continued because of his
persistent liberal publications. In 2010, the CCP forced Mr. Zhang to lose his
job again and escorted him back to his hometown. In 2017, Mr. Zhang
courageously advocated for Professor Deng Xiangchao, who was a professor at
Shandong Jinan Construction University and was unjustly terminated from his
teaching position by the school board due to his criticism of former CCP
chairman, Mao Zedong. Mr. Zhang protested at the front entrance of Professor
Deng’s university with signs and was brutally attacked by the mobs directed by
the government. In 2019, Mr. Zhang continued his devotion to spreading a
liberal culture career and established a new media platform called “Chinese
Poet’s Lecturing Hall – Wenshu Academy”. This creation of a new platform
offended the CCP intensely; and consequentially, he became one of the major
monitoring targets by the government. In April 2020, Mr. Zhang was elected as
one of the board candidates of the Independent Chinese PEN Center. And, in an
online video, he publicly voiced “Xi Jinping must step down from the position,
and the CCP must be ended” and other compassionate political speeches against
the CCP. Therefore, the Shandong Liaocheng Police Department took him into
custody and searched his house on May 1st, 2020. Later, a criminal charge was
placed against him under the crime of “inciting subversion of state power”.
During the detaining period, the CCP intentionally delayed the court decision
on Mr. Zhang’s case indefinitely. His wife and daughters were under intense
persecution because of his arrest. The local authority confiscated all his
assets and estates. In addition, the government obstructed his family and
lawyers from meeting with him in all possible ways, which resulted in the loss
of complete contact with Mr. Zhang for more than 2 years. On July 26th, 2022,
the Shandong Liaocheng Intermediate Court sentenced him to 6-year imprisonment
under the crime of “inciting subversion of state power” in a secret trial
session. His sentence term will end on May 12th, 2026. He is currently serving
his sentence in Shandong Province Prison.
Because of a
simple speech of “Xi Jinping must step down from the position, and the CCP must
be ended”, a 6-year imprisonment was the consequence. It is clear evidence of
the evil of the CCP under the leadership of Xi Jinping and their deep fear of
freedom of speech. When living in a land with an extreme lack of basic human
rights, Mr. Zhang Guiqi upheld his utmost principle of freedom of speech and
fearlessly faced the dictatorship under the complete knowledge of the enormous
persecution he would face because of his political speech. Today, IFCSS awards
Mr. Zhang Guiqi with the 2024 Spirit of Freedom Award. We want to show our deep
respect to numerous Chinese human rights fighters as Mr. Zhang Guiqi, who has
contributed to the Chinese democracy and freedom movement silently and
courageously. It is their selfless dedication that continuously shakes the iron
fist of the Chinese Communist dictatorship and attempts to bring the slightest
basic human rights for the entire Chinese people.
IFCSS Council
Photo of Mr.
Zhang Guiqi (Pen name: Lu Yang):
http://www.weijingsheng.org/pic/newsletters/newsletters2024/newsletters2024-2/LuY.jpg
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中文版
Overseas
Chinese Democracy Coalition News and Article Release Issue Number: A1666-O398
中国民主运动海外联席会议新闻与文章发布号：A1666-O398
Release Date:
June 1, 2024
发布日：2024年6月1日
Topic: IFCSS
2024 Spirit of Freedom Award Dedication to Mr. Zhang Guiqi (Pen name： Lu Yang)
标题：全美学自联授予张桂祺（笔名鲁扬）2024年度“全美学自联自由精神奖”的颁奖词
Original
Language Version: Chinese (Chinese version at the end)
此号以中文为准（英文在前，中文在后）
如有中文乱码问题，请与我们联系或访问：
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全美学自联授予张桂祺（笔名鲁扬）2024年度“全美学自联自由精神奖”的颁奖词
今全美学自联理事会决定将2024年度“全美学自联自由精神奖”颁与在押政治犯张桂祺先生。张桂祺先生出生于1971年，山东省莘县人，笔名鲁扬，网名“鲁西狂徒”，著名山东聊城民主异见诗人及作家。
张桂祺先生于1994年起开始诗歌文学创作活动，曾创办“扬子宛诗社”，“中国当代诗歌论坛”，主编出版《中国当代诗歌》等国内著名诗歌刊物；然而，因其秉持民主色彩写作且颇具影响力，其创办的多家诗歌媒体平台均被中共政府相继强制关闭；同时，其积极参与“零八宪章”签署、加入独立中文笔会等民主异见活动，使其夫妻二人均连年遭受中共当局的严酷迫害，被迫数次从不同任职学校工作单位强迫失业；为谋生计，其夫妻二人携女儿辗转于山东聊城及南方城市艰苦谋生；但因其仍坚持发表大量自由创作，2010年再度被迫性失业并被政府遣返山东老家；2017年，其勇敢声援因批评毛泽东而遭解职的山东济南建筑大学教授邓相超，并在邓教授所在大学门前举牌抗议，遭到政府指派暴徒的残酷殴打；2019年，其致力于继续从事自由文化传播事业，故而再次创建新的媒体平台“中国诗人大讲堂——文殊书院”，引起当局极度反感并成为当局的重点监控对象；2020年4月，因其被提名为独立中文笔会理事候选人，且在网络视频中发表“习近平必须下台，中共政权必须结束”等高度政治敏感言论，遂于2020年5月1日被山东省聊城市警方带走，家遭查抄，并被以涉嫌“煽动颠覆国家政权罪”刑拘；关押期间，中共当局对其案件久拖不判，其妻女备受牵连逼迫，家中所有资产皆被没收，且百般阻挠家属及律师与其会面，致其音信全无长达两年之久；直至2022年7月26日，被山东省聊城中级法院以“煽动颠覆国家政权罪”秘密重判有期徒刑6年，刑期至2026年5月12日，目前在山东省监狱服刑。
一句“习近平必须下台，中共政权必须结束”换来六年牢狱之灾足以证明以习近平为首的中共政府之邪恶，以及对言论自由之畏惧。在身处基本人权极度匮乏之地，张桂祺先生在明知其言论将引发从中共政权而来的巨大迫害，依旧不畏强权，秉承言论自由至上的原则，坦然面对因言治罪的不公逼迫。今全美学自联特向张桂祺先生颁布2024年全美学自联自由精神奖，以致敬当下无数如同张桂祺先生为中国民主自由之路默默奉献且无比勇敢的中国大陆人权斗士；是他们的前赴后继，用自身无畏言行不断冲击中共独裁暴政的铁拳，以尝试为中国人民争取一丝生而为人的基本人权待遇。
全美学自联理事会
2024年6月1日
张桂祺（笔名鲁扬）的照片：
http://www.weijingsheng.org/pic/newsletters/newsletters2024/newsletters2024-2/LuY.jpg
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