http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20080229-who-needs-lawyers-two-chinese-dissidents-sue-yahoo.html
the plaintiffs are representing themselves, and neither has actually been arrested.
The lawsuit is filed under the Alien Court Statute and the Torture Victim Protection Act, two laws that allow foreigners to file suits in US courts. Most of the complaint focuses on Yahoo's willingness to turn e-mail and personal information over to the Chinese authorities and its decision in 2002 to voluntarily sign the "Public Pledge on Self-Discipline for the Chinese Internet Industry"
It also contains the usual accusations that the company's conduct has led to "battery, false imprisonment, assault, intentional infliction of emotional distress, negligence" and more.
But that's not actually what happened to the plaintiffs. Zheng Cunzhu describes himself as a student leader during democratic movements back in 1989 and a member of the "China Democracy Party." A businessman, Zheng worked in China up until 2005 and invested in "two factories and one trading company in Anhui province." He moved to the US in January, 2006, and a month later learned to the Chinese dissident Li Zhi had been arrested after Yahoo turned over information to the Chinese government.
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