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| Beijing Times Article |
On October 18, 2013, the state sponsored Beijing Times published an article entitled "Cartoonist 'Rebel Pepper' Police Summons Supposedly Related to His Reposting Information on Yuyao Infant Starving to Death - Left Police Station After 7 PM Yesterday" (
漫画家“变态辣椒”被北京警方传唤疑和传播余姚婴儿被饿死有关 昨晚7点多离开派出所). Some excerpts:
Shortly after 11 pm night-before-last, cartoonist Wang Liming (known online as "Rebel Pepper") was summoned by police from his home to appear at the Jiangtai Police Station in Chaoyang District. After almost 24 hours of inquiry police confirmed that his Weibo post regarding Yuyao floods were factually false but without malice, and allowed him to leave after 7 pm last night.
. . . .
Based on inquiries by the Beijing Times, the Weibo in question that Rebel Pepper posted at 12:12 am on the morning of the 13th has already been deleted, and at 12:30 pm on the 14th the Yuyao Communist Party Propaganda Department posted a notice on its official Tencent Weibo saying "Following an investigation, the contents of Rebel Pepper's Weibo are completely false," "It is hoped that Internet users will be able to view this disaster from a rational and objective perspective, and not believe or spread rumors."
. . . .
Wang Lingming said that during their questioning police asked him how he posted the Weibo, examined the cell phone he used to make the post. Last night at 6:30 the police took Wang Liming to an interrogation room, and once against questioned him regarding the specifics of the matter. Wang Liming said that the police told him that their investigation indicated that, while the content of his post was false, it was not made with subjective malice, "its just there were social responsibilities." Afterwards, the police undertook to revoke Wang's summons. At around 7:30 pm last night Wang Liming left the police station, and exclaimed: "It feels really good to get my freedom back."
前晚11点多，画家王立铭（网名“变态辣椒”）在家中被朝阳区将台派出所传唤。经过近一天的询问，警方确认其发布关于余姚水灾的相关微博失实，但不存在主观恶意，便于昨晚7点多让其离开。
. . . .
记者查询发现，变态辣椒在13日零点12分发布的该则微博，已经被删除。而14日中午12点半，浙江省宁波市余姚市委宣传部在其腾讯官微中称，“变态辣椒的微博内容，据核实，内容完全失实”，“希望广大网友能够站在理性客观角度看待灾情，不信谣、不传谣”。
. . . .
王立铭称，警察询问了他是用何种设备发布的微博，并且查看了发布微博的手机。昨晚6点半，警察将王立铭带到了问询室，再次询问了具体情况。王立铭称，警方告诉他，调查认为他发布微博虽然内容并不属实，但没有主观上的恶意，“只是有社会责任”。随后，警方为王办理了撤销传唤的手续。晚上7点半左右，王立铭离开了派出所，他感叹道，“获得自由的感觉，还是很好的”。
These screenshots show that Sina Weibo began censoring searches for "Rebel Pepper" shortly after he was detained.
