(芝加哥時報/快訊) 五位曾經在美遭到错误起诉的華裔教授学者–陈霞芬、郗小星博士、王擎博士、胡安明博士與陈刚博士聯合投書本報共同呼吁在美華人支持陶丰教授所受到的不當指控與歧視, 全文下:

“亲爱的朋友们，

堪萨斯大学教授陶丰（Franklin Tao）急需您的帮助！

陶教授被联邦政府根据现已取消的“中国行动计划”（China Initiative）起诉，但是他坚持自己没有做过被指控的事情。而假如这些指控与中国无关，政府是不会发起这类指控的。目前，陶教授正在堪萨斯市的联邦地方法院接受审判。

像陶教授一样，我们曾经都被自己的政府起诉过。这些指控要么后来被政府撤销，要么被法官驳回，因为指控是没有事实依据的。我们所经历的这些噩梦毁坏了我们和家人的生活。它们只所以会发生只是因为司法部认为我们是为中国工作的间谍，因为我们都曾来自中国。

无论陶教授的审判结果如何，我们都希望看到正义得到伸张。但是正义是无法得到伸张的，如果被告没有足够的资金把这官司打下去。尽管我们知道自己是无辜的，但我们永远不会忘记我们曾因为担忧无法凑到数十万美元的律师费所遭受的精神折磨。

陶教授的案子已经持续了两年半，他的家人负债累累。我们知道有时人们认罪不是因为他们认为这是公平的或他们确实有罪，而是因为他们没有钱继续把官司打下去。陶教授选择了不惜代价把官司打下去，我们应该帮助他为赢得自己的清白而战。

请大家立即通过 https://www.gofundme.com/f/Legal-Defense-Fund-for-Franklin-Tao 向陶教授的法律辩护基金捐款。如果一个人得不到正义，那所有的人也得不到正义。

此致，

陈霞芬

郗小星博士

王擎博士

胡安明博士

陈刚博士

Dear Fellow Citizens and Residents,

University of Kansas professor Franklin Tao needs your help!

Professor Tao was charged by the federal government under the now-defunct China Initiative for something he insists he did not do, and no one would have been charged for it were it not related to China. Right now, he is standing trial at a federal district court in Kansas City.

Like Professor Tao, we were once prosecuted by our own government. The charges were either later dropped by the government or rejected by a judge because they were false. The nightmarish experiences ruined our lives and the lives of our families. They happened only because the DOJ thinks we are spies for China since that’s where we came from.

Whatever the outcome of Professor Tao’s trial is, we want to see justice being served, which cannot happen if the defendant does not have enough money to pay for the defense. We can never forget our anguish of not knowing how to find hundreds of thousand of dollars to pay for the legal fees despite knowing that we were innocent.

Professor Tao’s case has lasted for two and a half years. His family is in a crushing debt. We know some cases when people pleaded guilty not because they thought it was fair or they were guilty, but because they did not have the money to fight on. Professor Tao has chosen not to do this, and we should help him in his fight for justice.

Please donate NOW to Professor Tao’s legal defense fund at https://www.gofundme.com/f/Legal-Defense-Fund-for-Franklin-Tao. If justice is not served for one, it is not served for us all.

Sincerely,

Sherry Chen

Dr. Xiaoxing Xi

Dr. Qing Wang

Dr. Anming Hu

Dr. Gang Chen