Pictures of jailed veteran Chinese journalist Gao Yu are displayed by protesters outside the Chinese central government’s liaison office in Hong Kong Friday, April 17.
To mark World Press Freedom Day yesterday the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) on Friday joined its Asia-Pacific affiliates in calling for the immediate release of imprisoned veteran Chinese journalist Gao Yu. According to an IFJ press release, media unions and associations representing the South Asia Media Solidarity Network (SAMSN), the South East Asia Journalists Unions (SEAJU) as well as journalist organizations in the Pacific and East Asia, wrote to the Chinese authorities highlighting the inconsistencies in Gao Yu’s arrest and her recent trial and sentencing and have urged China’s President to use his power to release the journalist.
The imprisonment of the 71-year-old independent journalist for revealing a state secret has drawn global criticism to her case as well as the plight of at least 43 other journalists currently in jail. CPJ recently declared China the world’s biggest jailer of journalists.
According to IFJ, Gao Yu was arrested in Beijing on April 24, 2014, on charges of illegally obtaining state secrets and sharing them with foreign media. It understood that a leaked document outlined the Communist Party’s plans to aggressively curb civil society and press freedom in China. Gao was subsequently charged and held in detention until her trial in November, 2014. The closed-door trial lasted four hours, during which the prosecution relied on a recorded confession by Gao which she testified was only obtained when police threatened the arrest her son.
During the trial, Gao pleaded ‘not guilty’ to the charge. Her sentencing was delayed on two occasions, however, this month on April 17 the verdict came down to a seven-year sentence for the alleged crime.
Gao Yu is suffering from ill health and has twice previously been imprisoned for her journalism, in 1989 and 1993.
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