For the fifth consecutive year, the Swedish Publishers’ Association is initiating a digital manifestation to shed light on Gui Minhai’s case and highlight the threats faced by publishers worldwide. Each year, a different artist creates a new portrait of Gui Minhai for the occasion. This year’s portrait has been created by renowned illustrator and author of children’s books Sven Nordqvist.
On 17 October, publishers and industry colleagues across the world will share the portrait of Gui Minhai along with a brief message on social media — filling our channels with his image to remind the world of his case and to defend freedom of expression around the world.
How to participate
We will send out this year’s portrait and a suggested caption on 16 October. Please publish them in your own channels on the morning of 17 October, and tag the Swedish Publishers’ Association in your posts. The primary channel for this manifestation is Instagram, but feel free to share it in other social media channels too.
- The Swedish Publishers’ Association’s Instagram account: https://www.instagram.com/forlaggare/
- The Swedish Publishers’ Association’s LinkedIn account: https://www.linkedin.com/company/svenska-forlaggareforeningen
Background
Gui Minhai was born in 1964 in Ningbo, China. He moved to Sweden in the late 1980s and studied at the University of Gothenburg. In the early 2000s, he began publishing political texts about mainland Chinese political intrigues and insider information from the Chinese Communist Party —books banned in mainland China.
His books were published through his company Mighty Current, which also owned Causeway Bay Books in Hong Kong until his abduction.
In 2015, Gui Minhai was kidnapped by Chinese security agents from his holiday home in Thailand and has since been imprisoned at an undisclosed location, without access to legal counsel or contact with his family. His imprisonment appears to be a direct response to his critical stance against the Chinese regime.
The Swedish Publishers’ Association demands that the Chinese state respect human rights and release Gui Minhai immediately.
About the artist Sven Nordqvist
Sven Nordqvist is one of Sweden’s most renowned illustrators and children’s books authors. He made his debut as an author and illustrator of children’s books in 1983 with Agaton Öman och alfabetet (Agaton Öman and the alphabet). Since then, he has illustrated many books for children, some that he himself also wrote and some by other authors. He has received many prestigious Swedish and international awards for his books.