Chinese journalist Shi Tao gets 10 years in prison for writing about the censorship that reporters in China are subject to. Yahoo! supplied the Chinese authorities with information regarding an IP address that linked Shi Tao to emails sent to websites abroad.

The mail included the text of an internal message, which the authorities had sent to his newspaper. It was a warning to journalists regarding the dangers of social destabilization and other risks resulting from the return of certain dissidents on the 15th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square massacre.

This is reported by the media watchdog Reporters Without Borders. They explain how the text of the verdict in the case against Shi Tao shows that Yahoo! Holdings (Hong Kong) provided China’s state security authorities with details that helped to identify and convict him

Reporters Without Borders have reported several instances where Yahoo! aid the Chinese regime in the suppression of the press. In their recent statement, the organization sais that: “The company will yet again simply state that they just conform to the laws of the countries in which they operate, but does the fact that this corporation operates under Chinese law free it from all ethical considerations? How far will it go to please Beijing?”

The verdict is translated into English by the Dui Hua Foundation which works to document the cases of Chinese political prisoners. To have a look, download the verdict in pdf-fpormat.