Civic Forum: A Wrongful Conviction: TAN Zuoren and His Experience in China

RSVP (acceptances only) with name and affiliation by May 8th, 2014 to dcoffice@initiativesforchina.org. Mr. Tan Zuoren, a prominent dissident in China, was released from a full 5-year imprisonment on March 27 th. Officially sentenced for “inciting subversion of state power,” many believe the conviction was politically motivated to end Mr. Zuoren’s investigation of low quality school buildings that caused the deaths of thousands of children in the 2008 Sichuan earthquake. Mr. Yang Yu, a close friend and co-worker of Tan during the investigation, will present some of the original video clips covering this investigation and stories behind it. The panel discussion will include the following questions: What did Tan Zuoren find in his investigation? What did those findings suggest about the Chinese government’s handling on the issue of construction quality in the aftermath of the earthquake? What are the political implications for the wrongful conviction of Tan Zuoren?