A British corporate investigator has filed a complaint to U.K. regulators about Chinese state TV, saying its British license should be revoked because it broadcast his forced confession when he was imprisoned in China.
Peter Humphrey filed a complaint Friday against China Central Television and its international division, China Global Television, for violating British broadcasting rules.
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Humphrey and his wife spent two years in prison after being convicted of illegally acquiring personal information of Chinese citizens.
The couple had been hired on contract by pharmaceuticals company GlaxoSmithKline to look into a security breach, but became collateral damage when the Chinese government began investigating the pharmaceutical company’s bribery practices.
The pair was shown on Chinese television purportedly confessing their crimes.
CGTN is available on free and pay television channels in Britain. The broadcaster is reportedly expanding its presence in Europe with a new studio and production center set to open in London by the end of the year.
In 2012, Britain’s communications regulator, Ofcom, revoked Iranian state-owned Press TV’s license following a complaint by Newsweek journalist Maziar Bahari that the station aired an interview with him while he was detained. Bahari said he was forced to do a scripted interview with his captors, who threatened him with execution.
