A British fraud investigator has asked the UK’s media watchdog to revoke a Chinese state-owned outlet’s broadcast license for helping to stage his allegedly forced confession and subsequent imprisonment in China.
Peter Humphrey, who was sentenced to more than two years in prison by a Shanghai court in 2014 but released seven months early and deported, wants the Office of Communications (Ofcom) to punish China Central Television for its alleged role in the episode.
“CCTV journalists cooperated with police to extract, record, make post-production and then broadcast his confession,” Humphrey’s letter of complaint states.
He accuses the Chinese authorities of drugging him and locking him in a chair inside a small metal cage to extract the confession.
“China Central Television (CCTV) journalists then aimed their cameras at me and recorded me reading out the answers already prepared for me by the police,” his complaint added.
It added that the images were then released worldwide through its international channels.
Humphrey told AFP this was the first legal action he has launched against any of the Chinese entities involved in his incarceration.
He added, “It will not be the last.”
A spokesman for Ofcom confirmed it had “received a complaint which we are assessing as a priority.”
He added, “If, following investigation, we find our rules have been broken we would take the necessary enforcement action.”
Ofcom has the power to fine broadcasters for violating UK rules and can revoke their licenses in the most serious cases.
– With reporting from Agence France-Presse