American activists: China holds cohorts
Posted on Wednesday, August 20, 2008
BEIJING — Police detained five American activists Tuesday after they unfurled a “free Tibet” banner near a key Olympics venue in Beijing, according to a pro-Tibet group.
An American graffiti artist, who planned to use laser beams to flash the same message on buildings in the Chinese capital, was also detained, according to a colleague and Students for a Free Tibet.
The five protesters were taken away by security shortly before midnight for displaying the banner, which outlined “free Tibet” in English and Chinese with tiny blue diodes, near the Beijing National Stadium, the group said in a statement.
A spokesman in the news department of Beijing’s Municipal Publicity Security Bureau said he was not aware of the protest. He gave only his surname, Li, as is common among officials in China because they are not allowed to discuss sensitive issues with the media.
The group identified the activists as Amy Johnson, 33; Sam Corbin, 24; Liza Smith, 31; Jacob Blumenfeld, 26, and Lauren Valle, 21. Their whereabouts were unknown, the group said.
Earlier in the day, James Powderly, co-founder of Graffiti Research Lab in New York, also was detained as he prepared to use a hand-held green laser to project messages on prominent structures in Beijing.
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