Standing up to China

Comedian Francesca Martinez tells Sunil Peck why she accepted the invitation to take part in London’s Olympic torch relay – and then turned it down

Francesca Martinez has no regrets about her controversial decision to pull out of the Olympics torch relay through London in protest at China’s treatment of Tibet.

What's more, she is disappointed that Paralympians have failed to take a stand by boycotting the Paralympics in Beijing later this year.

“In my heart I say, ‘come on folks, some things are more important than your own career.’

Before you are a Paralympian or an athlete, you are a human being. If I were in Tibet in prison or being raped, I would hope that someone in a democratic country would use their free speech to speak up for me. The atrocities are a good reason to step back and say, ‘can I help in any way?’”

But she concedes that it is much easier for her to take a stand because she has not devoted her career to qualifying for the Paralympics.

She says she accepted the invitation to carry the torch for two reasons. One was that she felt proud to be asked to represent disabled people on an international stage. The second reason was that it gave her a platform to campaign against China’s treatment of Tibet. But as the relay approached, she felt increasingly uneasy about the situation in Tibet.

“I originally wanted to see how the situation would pan out. I knew that China had been given the Olympics on the condition that it improved its human rights record and I wanted to see if the international spotlight on China would help the Tibet situation. But the opposite happened and more atrocities seemed to be happening.”

She decided to pull out of the parade in the back of a taxi on the way to an interview with Jon Snow on Channel 4 News.

“It became more and more clear that I would either have to go on and not talk about the Tibet issue or pledge my full support and say that although I was honoured to represent the disabled community, the issue of human rights is also important – and there is also China’s backward attitude towards disabled people.”

There were professional reasons too and she risked jeopardising her personal integrity by participating.

“I am aware that, as a political comedian, my words can’t be empty, otherwise I have no right to talk about anything. I can’t express my support for Tibet and passionate support for human rights and also say, ‘but I’m going to appear anyway.’”

Martinez hopes that her stance will encourage other people to campaign against human rights abuses around the world.

“It was a very small thing that I did; I was just one torch-bearer in one country. But social and political change in the history of humankind has come about through individuals standing up and fighting. I wanted to be someone who was supporting people who are fighting.”