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Jailed reporter joins Yahoo lawsuit

A jailed Chinese reporter accused of leaking state secrets has joined a US lawsuit claiming Yahoo Inc helped the Chinese government convict dissidents, his mother said.

Shi Tao (師濤), who was sentenced in 2005 to 10 years in prison, is seeking compensation from the California-based Internet company after Yahoo Hong Kong and Yahoo China were accused of providing information to Chinese officials that led to his arrest.

Shi, a former writer for the financial publication Dangdai Shang Bao (Contemporary Business News), was jailed for allegedly providing state secrets to foreigners. His conviction stemmed from an e-mail he sent containing his notes on a government circular that spelled out restrictions on the media.

Yahoo has acknowledged turning over data on Shi at the request of the Chinese government, saying company employees face civil and criminal sanctions if they ignore local laws. It denies Yahoo Hong Kong was involved.

Shi's legal challenge, filed on May 29th in US District Court, is part of an earlier lawsuit by the World Organization for Human Rights USA which is suing Yahoo, its subsidiary in Hong Kong and Alibaba.com, a Yahoo partner that runs Yahoo China, citing US federal laws that govern torture and other violations of international law.

Shi's mother, Gao Qinsheng (高琴聲), insisted on Sunday that Shi was innocent and the family would press ahead with the legal action.

Meanwhile, Yahoo said that China should not punish people for expressing their political views on the Internet.

Yahoo criticized China in a brief statement that didn't specifically mention Shi's case.
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