ImageCourtesy: my.newshub.org
A Chinese court has sentenced a journalist to seven years of rigorous imprisonment on the account of revealing an internal Communist Party document to a foreign-controlled website.
Gao Yu, aged 71, had been convicted in Beijing, the capital city in last November on the charge of providing ‘state secrets’ to foreign associates, her lawyer, Mo Shaoping, stated in a press statement. Mo said Gao had indicated as she was leaving the courtroom that she would appeal against the decision of course.
The State Council Information Office remained unavailable for the comment. Gao, who was arrested last year in May, was accused of passing the document to Ho Pin, head of Mirror Books, Shang said. However, Ho Pin denies of receiving any such document.
The maximum sentence awarded for leaking state secrets is life imprisonment. The prosecutors, however, recommended a sentence ranging from a period of 5-10 years based on the level of sensitivity of the secrets Gao was accused of leaking, Shang said.
Gao is a freelance journalist prominent for her critical and refined analysis of government leaders.This, however, is the third time Gao will be jailed on charges stemming from her activism and for leaking state secrets. Gao is one of 44 journalists who are behind bars in China as of December 1, 2014, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists, a New York-based media advocacy group. The Human Rights activists and other associated people have condemned the trial.
Tags: China Communist Party of China Gao Yu
