The International Press Institute (IPI) today condemned a Chinese court decision sentencing veteran investigative journalist and IPI World Press Freedom Hero Gao Yu to seven years in prison for allegedly leaking state secrets.
“This disturbing decision – which punishes a journalist for allegedly sharing materials highlighting the ideology behind Beijing’s policies, information undoubtedly of public interest – is not only unsupported by the evidence, but contravenes rights guaranteed to Chinese citizens under the country’s Constitution and its international commitments,” IPI Executive Director Barbara Trionfi said.
“IPI stands behind Gao Yu, who reportedly plans to appeal, and we note that her continued detention serves no legitimate purpose while that appeal is pending. We call on Chinese authorities to release her immediately and to reject this politically motivated decision as unjust and unwarranted.”
Detained nearly one year ago, Gao was accused of leaking “Document 9” to the U.S.-based news website Mingjing Magazine. The document, which purportedly outlines an ideological agenda of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) to promote economic reform while restricting civil society, specifically criticises the promotion of western concepts of democracy, human rights and media freedom as threats to CCP control of the nation’s “ideological sphere”.
Mingjing Magazine has denied receiving the document from Gao.
For more information on the case, see this IPI statement from November 2014.