姓名：姚文田
出生年份：1941年7月11日
職業：晨鐘出版社總裁
被拘捕日期：2013年10月27日
被拘捕地點：深圳市
被拘捕罪名：走私普通貨物罪，涉嫌攜帶違禁物品
正式被捕日期：2013年11月12日
被起訴日期：
法律代表：律師張慧和莫少平、丁錫奎
審訊日期：2014年3月31日庭，4月11日續審
審判日期：2015年5月7日（一審判決），2015年7月18日（二審判決）
判決結果：罪名成立
刑期：10年及罰款25萬人民幣
關押地點：廣東省東莞監獄（廣東省東莞市石碣鎮新洲22信箱4區，郵編：523299）
案件簡介：姚文田，獨立中文筆會榮譽會員，晨鐘出版社總裁，專門出版中國「禁書」。兒子姚勇戰於「六四」後，曾被扣留在上海市，後獲釋回港，現居美國。
2013年10月27日，懷疑因籌備出版流亡美國的作家余杰新書《中國教父習近平》，過了深圳口岸後，被便衣抓走監視居住，11月2日刑事拘留，11月12日逮捕，關押在廣東省深圳市第二看守所。
2014年3月31日開庭，4月11日續審，律師張慧和莫少平及丁錫奎擔任辯護人。5月7日，廣東省深圳市中級人民法院以「走私普通貨物罪」和「涉嫌攜帶違禁物品」一審判決有期徒刑十年，罰款人民幣25萬元，廣東省高級人民法院7月18日二審裁決維持原判。
姚文田先被安排在監管醫院服刑。
姚文田患有嚴重心臟病，在拘留期間多次陷入昏迷送醫急救。2014年5月，曾輕度中風，被監禁在深圳市公安局監管醫院，監視醫護到2014年5月。2014年7月起，關押在廣東省東莞監獄（廣東省東莞市石碣鎮新洲22信箱4區，郵編：523299），因勞改造成腰骨疼痛和痔瘡。家屬申請保外就醫一直被拒，但獲減刑8個月，預計2023年2月26日出獄。
姚文田案件表面上是「走私罪」，其實跟他出版得罪中共的書籍有關，「殺一儆百」以警告香港出版界。他原擬出版的《中國教父習近平》，內容指習近平對內鎮壓、對外擴張，標榜的「中國夢」如納粹「第三帝國夢」翻版，書中將習近平與俄國新沙皇普京、羅馬尼亞壽西斯古、清朝雍正皇帝等獨裁者作比較。
參考更多資料：http://www.chinesepen.org/blog/archives/1717
資料更新：2020年9月22日
Name: Yiu Man-tin (Yao Wentian) (姚文田)
Date of birth: 11 July 1941
Occupation: Chief Executive of Morning Bell Press
Date of detention: 27 October 2013
Location: Shenzhen Municipality
Ground of detention: “Smuggling ordinary goods” and “carrying banned substance”
Date of formal arrest: 12 November 2013
Date of Indictment:
Legal representation: Lawyers Zhang Hui, Mo Shaoping and Ding Xikui
Date of trial: 31 March 2014 and continued on 11 April 2014
Date of sentencing: 7 May 2014 (first instance); 18 July 2014 (second instance)
Verdict: Convicted
Sentence: 10 years imprisonment and fined RMB 250,000
Location of detention/imprisonment: Dongguan Prison, Guangdong province
Description:
Yiu Man-tin, an honorary member of Independent Chinese PEN Centre and chief executive of Morning Bell Press, focussed on publishing “banned books” on China. His son Yao Yongzhan was detained in Shanghai after the June 4 Massacre, and was later released and returned to Hong Kong. Yao Yongzhan is currently living in the US.
On 27 October 2013, Yiu Man-tin was taken away by plainclothes police and placed under “residential surveillance” after he crossed the border to Shenzhen. His friends and family believed that his detention was related to his preparation to publish a new book entitled “Xi Jinping, China’s godfather” written by writer Yu Jie, who is living in exile in the US. He was criminally detained on 2 November and formally arrested on 12 November. He was detained at Shenzhen Municipal No. 2 Detention Centre.
His trial was heard on 31 March 2014 and continued on 11 April. Lawyers Zhang Hui, Mo Shaoping and Ding Xikui were his defense lawyers. On 7 May, Shenzhen Municipal Intermediate People’s Court sentenced him to 10 years imprisonment and fined him RMB 250,000 for “smuggling ordinary goods” and “carrying banned substance”. Guangdong Provincial Higher People’s Court on 18 July ruled against his appeal and upheld the original verdict.
Yiu Man-tin was arranged to serve his prison sentence in a hospital under surveillance.
Yiu Man-tin suffered from serious heart disease. He fell into coma for many times and received emergent medical treatment during detention. In May 2014, he suffered from mild broke and was imprisoned in the hospital under the supervision of the Shenzhen Municipal Public Security Bureau. Since July 2014, he has been imprisoned at Dongguan Prison in Guangdong province. Due to heavy labour through reform, he suffered from lower back pain and haemorrhoids. His family helped him apply for release on medical parole but the authorities rejected. But Yiu was given a sentence reduction for 8 months. He is expected to be released from prison on 26 February 2023.
On the surface, Yiu Man-tin’s case seems be a “smuggling” case, but it is in fact related to the books he published that irritated the Communist Party leaders. The Chinese authorities used his case to warn the publishing industry in Hong Kong. The content of the book “Xi Jinping, China’s godfather”, which he originally planned to publish, described how Xi Jinping cracked down on dissidents internally and expanded China’s influence externally. “China Dream”, as promoted by Xi Jinping, was like a replica of the Nazi’s “Dream of the Third Empire”. The book also compared Xi Jinping with other dictators like Russian President Vladimir Putin, late Romanian Communist leader Nicolae Ceaușescu and Emperor Yongzheng of Qing Dynasty.
For more information: http://www.chinesepen.org/blog/archives/1717
Updated on: 22 September 2020
