China jails journalist for seven years

BEIJING: A Chinese court on Friday 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.