【新唐人2014年02月11日讯】专为受迫害的异议作家设立的奖项——赫尔曼•哈米特奖，日前由正在监狱服刑的中国异议作家李必丰获得。负责管理这一奖项的美国人权组织“人权观察”，在2月6号，正式向李必丰夫人发出了通知。
赫尔曼•哈米特奖，是由美国剧作家赫尔曼和小说家哈米特设立的一个人权奖项，目地是表彰那些因发表与政府不同见解、批评政府言论，或报导政府不乐见的主题，而受到迫害，生活陷入困境，却依然努力促进言论自由的异议作家。自1989年以来，全世界已经有92个国家，超过750名作家和学者获得了这个奖项。
“2013年赫尔曼•哈米特奖”的获得者——目前正在四川遂宁监狱服刑的中国异议作家李必丰，原是四川绵阳市税务局干部，1989年“六四事件”后，李必丰因为组织游行，被当局以“反革命宣传煽动罪”判刑5年。出狱后又遭到多次关押，但他依然坚持参与民主运动。
1998年，李必丰为《中国人权》组织，调查四川千名纺织工人罢工流血事件，又被当局以“经济诈骗罪”判刑7年。2011年9月，李必丰被指称资助诗人廖亦武出逃德国，而再次被当局以所谓“合同诈骗罪”拘捕。当时，尽管国内外作家联署签名声援李必丰，但当局依然将他判处长达12年的有期徒刑。
对此，李必丰的亲朋和民主人士都认为，李必丰是无辜的，中共当局几次将他重判，都是对他的政治迫害。
中国异议作家李必丰妻子蒋霞：“他第二次坐牢，也是以合同诈骗罪给他判的刑，第三次也是，请的律师，都认为他那个诈骗罪都不应该成立。一些媒体也在关注，包括世界各国，还包括他的朋友呼吁，最后法院还是按照他们那种结论判决。我认为一个国家对它的公民在法律上都应该是平等的，不该采取一种抹黑的方式来对待它的公民。”
大陆民主人士指出，由于政治犯、良心犯，只存在于专制独裁的国家当中，为了避免受到国际社会的谴责，中共当局一直罗织各种刑事犯罪的罪名，打压迫害异议人士，例如经济罪、“聚众扰乱公共场所秩序”罪、“非法集会”罪等等。
四川民主人士、异议作家李双德：“现在中共如果要用政治罪来进行打压，它们所付出的成本是非常大的，所以中共能够不以政治罪进行打压，它就尽量不以政治罪进行打压，因为它们宣称‘在中国大陆没有政治犯’。”
据了解，李必丰多年来一直坚持写作，所涉文体包括诗歌、小说、剧本、政论等，也曾经写过几百万字的作品，但他的所有作品却因为大陆特有的“新闻出版审查制度”而无法发表，他的手稿也曾被警察搜走销毁。
蒋霞：“他原来也写过一些诗或者一些小说之类的，但基本上都没有发表，好像他的一些他自己写的文章，只是给他的一些朋友看过，他以前他在监狱里边写的一些东西。”
除了李必丰之外，近年大陆一批异议作家和知识份子，也都曾获得赫尔曼•哈米特这一奖项，其中包括被称为“中国良心”的著名记者刘宾雁、湖北政论作家杜导斌、资深媒体人高瑜、“六四天网”创办人黄琦、诗人及流亡作家廖亦武、法学博士滕彪等人。
采访/唐音 编辑/张天宇 后制/李勇
Dissident Writer in Prison Receives Hellman-Hammett Grants
Hellman-Hammett grant program was set up for writers around the world who have been victims of political persecution. Chinese dissident writer Li Bifeng was recently awarded this grant.
Human Rights Watch administers the program and formally notified Mrs. Li Bifeng on Feb. 6 of the grant.
The grants are named for the late American playwright Lillian Hellman and the novelist Dashiell Hammett. It aims to help writers who were targeted for expressing views that their governments oppose, for criticizing government
officials or actions, or for writing about subjects that their governments did not want reported. Since 1989, more than 750 writers from 92 countries have
received the Hellman-Hammett grant.
The 2013 Hellman-Hammett grant awardee, Chinese dissident writer Li Bifeng is currently serving a prison sentence in Suining, Sichuan.
He used to be a cadre at Mianyang City Revenue. After the 1989 Tiananmen Square Protest, Li Bifeng was sentenced to 5 years in prison for the crime of instigating counter-revolutionary propaganda because he had organized a demonstration. He has been subject to multiple imprisonments after that
for his insistence on participating in the democratic movement.
In 1998, Li Bifeng was sentenced to 7 years on the charges of the economic crime of swindling for assisting investigation of a bloody strike involving thousands of textile workers in Sichuan, for the Human Rights in China organization.
In September 2011, the Communist authorities charged him with contract fraud for his alleged financial support for poet Liao Yiwu ‘s flight to Germany.
Despite worldwide protests and petitions, Li Bifeng was sentenced to 12 years in prison.
In this regard, Li Bifeng was believed innocent by his family and friends as well as the activists. They believe Li Bifeng has been subject to the regime ‘s
political persecution.
Jiang Xia, Li Bifeng ‘s wife: “His second and third imprisonments were both based on the economic fraud. None of the attorneys we spoke to agreed with the charges. With media coverage and worldwide protests, the court still
sentenced him on the charges.
Every state should treat its citizens by laws. I don ‘t think a state should discredit its citizens."
Activists explain that political prisoners and prisoners of conscience exist only in authoritarian countries. To avoid condemnation by the international committee, the regime has persecuted dissidents on various criminal charges,
such as economic crimes, gathering crowds to disturb public order, and unlawful assembly.
Li Shuangde, Sichuan activist and dissident writer: “The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) would not suppress based on political crimes, because they have claimed that there is no political prisoner in China."
Li Bifeng has insisted on writing, ranging from poetry, novels, plays, to political comments. However, his works have been banned because of the CCP
news publication censorship. His original manuscript has also been confiscated by the police.
Jiang Xia: “He had written some poetry and fiction. But none of them were published. Some of his works were only shown to his friends, especially those he wrote in the prison."
In addition to Li Bifeng, Chinese dissident writers who have received the Hellman-Hammett grant are also the conscience of China: famous reporter Liu Binyan, Hubei commentator Du Daobin, senior journalist Gao Yu, 64tianwang.com founder Huang Qi, poet and writer in exile Liao Yiwu, and human rights activist and lawyer Teng Biao.
Interview/TangYin Edit/Zhang Tianyu Post-Production/LiYong
