A 71-year-old veteran Chinese journalist, known for her hard-hitting reports on elite ruling Communist Party leaders, was on Friday sentenced to seven years in jail for leaking to a foreign website a secret party circular banning Press freedom and democracy. Gao Yu, one of China’s most prominent journalists well known for her articles critical of government leaders, was handed down the judgement by the Beijing No. 3 Intermediate Court was found guilty of revealing state secrets, a decision described by rights groups as an “affront to justice”.
The government had accused Gao of disclosing a highly confidential ‘Document No. 9’ issued by the ruling Communist Party leadership in 2013 to an overseas Chinese-language news organisation, according to her lawyer Mo Shaoping. The document - said to be the Party’s ideological battle plan - ordered cadres to tackle seven ‘subversive’ influences on society, including “Western constitutional democracy” and “universal values” such as human rights and free speech, banning public discussions on topics ranging from press freedom, civil rights to judicial independence.
Known for openly supporting democracy and press freedom, Gao originally stood trial here in November last year and denied the charge, often used to jail journalists in China. Gao immediately said she wanted to appeal against the sentence. She remained calm and was smiling as she said she planned to appeal, her brother Gao Wei said.