More Chinese Dissidents Sue Yahoo!

Yahoo faces another lawsuit over its cooperation with the Chinese government. The claims include violation of international law including torture and prolonged detention, as well as unfair business practices, intentional infliction of emotional distress, false imprisonment and assault.

The allegations:

1. Yahoo provided information to the Chinese authorities that led to the 2003 arrest of Li Zhi, who has served about half of an eight-year sentence;
2. When the Li Zhi arrest came to light in 2006, Plaintiff Zheng Cunzhu was living in the United States at the time and lost his property in China when he did not return for fear of getting arrested for his pro-democracy activities; and
3. A second dissident plaintiff, Guo Quan, claims he lost business when his name and that of his garment company were blocked by the Yahoo search results.

Hat tip to Rebecca MacKinnon, RConversation (citing Business Week). [JH]