December 16, 2008
A journalist who was yesterday reported missing in Taiyuan, Shanxi Province, was found in custody of the police of Zhangjiakou, Hebei Province under suspicion of taking bribes, The Beijing News reports today.
Guan Jian writes for a weekly newspaper called Wangluobao.
The paper said that Guan was assigned to go to Taiyuan to report on a land dispute, which involved a local real estate developer, and he had not been heard from since December 1.
On that date, the newspaper received their last call from Guan, who told them that everything was going well. Guan’s mobile phone records showed the last call made was also on December 1.
Surveillance video camera in Guan’s hotel showed that on the same night Guan met five unidentified men who took him away from the hotel.
Today, The Beijing News reports that Guan’s lawyer received a phone call yesterday from the police of Zhangjiakou, Hebei Province. On the phone, the lawyer was requested to send money and some medicine to Guan.
- The Beijing News (Chinese): Missing journalist found in Zhangjiakou, Hebei Province
- Shanghai Daily: Reporter goes missing after investigating land use story (published December 15)
- The Beijing News: Journalist missing after Taiyuan interviews (includes stills from hotel surveillance camera showing Guan being taken away, published December 15)