Demonstrators hold placards showing portraits of Chinese journalist Gao Yu during a protest in support of her outside the China liaison office in Hong Kong yesterday.
AFP/Beijing
A Chinese court yesterday convicted a 71-year-old journalist of leaking state secrets and jailed her for seven years, it said, with rights groups condemning the “arbitrary” verdict as a “blow to free expression”.
Gao Yu — named one of the International Press Institute’s 50 “world press heroes” in 2000 — “illegally provided state secrets to foreigners”, Beijing’s No 3 Intermediate People’s Court said on a verified social media account.
The ruling said that Gao had leaked a 2013 directive by the ruling Communist party named “Document number 9” to a Hong Kong media outlet.
The document warns of the “dangers” of multiparty democracy, independent media, “universal” definitions of human rights, and criticism of the party’s historical record, according to copies widely circulated online. “We are very disappointed with this verdict,” said Shang Baojun, one of her lawyers, who argued in court that a “confession” from Gao had been extracted after threats were made against her son.
Gao is “the victim of vaguely worded and arbitrary state-secret laws that are used against activists as part of the authorities’ attack on freedom of expression,” said William Nee, a researcher for Britain-based Amnesty International.
Known for her outspoken support for democracy and press freedom, Gao went missing last April and resurfaced on China’s state broadcaster a month later admitting she had made a “mistake”. Shang said the main evidence presented at Gao’s trial in November was a “confession” she made after police threatened the journalist’s son -- who they had also detained.
He added that after the verdict was read out Gao stated in a “strong voice” that she would appeal, but was not allowed to make any further statement.
The court denied the defence access to documents used to convict her, the lawyer said. The septuagenarian suffers from high blood pressure and Shang added he was “very worried” about her health.
Chinese courts are tightly controlled by the ruling party and more than 99% of defendants are convicted, with appeals rarely successful. Police and security staff pushed foreign journalists hoping to cover the verdict more than 100 metres away from the courthouse, and bundled a Chinese individual into a police
vehicle.
