Chinese journalist gets 7 years for file leak
Reporter allegedly exposed government document targeting press freedom
BEIJING— A Beijing court sentenced a veteran Chinese journalist to seven years in prison Friday on charges of leaking a document detailing the Communist Party leadership’s resolve to aggressively target civil society and press freedom as a threat to its monopoly on power.
The sentence against Gao Yu, 71, comes amid a widening clampdown on free speech that highlights the gap between China’s vision of rule of law and western notions of civil liberties and judicial fairness. The verdict appears to confirm the authenticity of the leaked document, deemed a state secret, which had been reported since June 2013, but never was discussed openly by the leadership.
It verifies widely held assumptions about Communist Party leader Xi Jinping’s distrust of any social organization outside party control, as recently manifested in the weeks-long detentions of five women’s rights activists who planned to start a public awareness campaign about sexual harassment.
Gao had denied the charges, which could have carried a life sentence.
Gao’s lawyer Mo Shaoping said Gao was convicted of leaking state secrets by giving the strategy paper, known as Document No. 9, to an overseas media group. The document argued for aggressive curbs on the spread of Western democracy, universal values, civil society and press freedom, which the party considers a threat to its rule.
Another of Gao’s lawyers, Shang Baojun, said Gao did not speak during the verdict and sentencing, but told her brother, Gao Wei, that she could not accept the result.
“We will definitely appeal,” Shang said.
Speaking to The Associated Press, Gao Wei said his sister appeared thinner and frailer than before her detention a year ago. The court seemed to disregard the defence and heard only the prosecution, Gao Wei said, a common complaint in such cases where the outcome is usually determined before the court meets.
“I’m very angry and concerned for my sister,” he said.
Gao, who wrote about politics, economics and social issues for media in Hong Kong and overseas, has already served time in prison on state secrets charges more than two decades ago.