Guangdong bans minor offenders from talking to press without prior permission

Offenders, who have committed minor crimes and are undergoing community correction in Guangdong province, will not be allowed to speak to the press, make speeches or demonstrate without permission, according to new regulations aimed at managing offenders.

These stipulations, part of a raft of 24 new rules aimed at offenders who have been sentenced to community-based corrections, such as probation or parole, came into effect on December 1.

Under Guangdong's system, if an offender violates a regulation, points will be deducted so that the lawbreaker may incur a further penalty.

Giving a media interview or making a speech without permission are considered to be serious violations, and this will result in a deduction of four or five points. Organizing or participating in an illegal assembly and spreading speech harmful to the country are equally serious.

Those who have had eight points deducted within three months or four at one time will be required to stay at home and undergo other forms of correction such as community service.

Wang Fu, a lawyer from Zhenbang Law Firm in Beijing, said that China's constitution states that a person has freedom of speech, publication, assembly and demonstration.

"Offenders are entitled to basic rights if they haven't been deprived of political rights," said Wang, noting that the local government is more concerned about maintaining stability than helping to rehabilitate offenders.

"We have not deprived them of freedom of speech and other political rights," said an official with the community correction office under the Guangzhou bureau of justice, who declined to reveal her name, adding that they could be interviewed by journalists if permission had been granted.

China's public security and judicial authorities jointly released a regulation on community correction in January 2012, which did not include any regulations on offenders' freedom of speech.

Although the national regulation does not mention press interviews, the province has added more specific policies in the new regulation based on their experience, the official said.