By James Pomfret
HONG KONG (Reuters) -Beijing’s High Court rejected on Thursday an appeal by veteran Chinese state media journalist Dong Yuyu to overturn a seven-year jail term for espionage, his family told Reuters, calling the decision an “act of persecution”.
Arrested in Beijing in February 2022 while lunching with a Japanese diplomat, the respected 62-year-old former Guangming Daily editor and journalist was jailed last November for seven years on espionage charges.
His son, Dong Yifu, confirmed to Reuters that the court had upheld the original sentence, and had given no reason for its rejection.
The judgment was “illogical and there’s no evidence to satisfy the charges of espionage,” Dong’s lawyer, Mo Shaoping, told Reuters.
Dong’s wife and a relative attended the hearing. The family, who maintain Dong’s innocence, have challenged some of the evidence presented in court.
A number of Japanese diplomats whom Dong met in China had not been spies as alleged, and had never been expelled from the country, the family said in a statement.
“Even though today’s judgment is final within China’s oppressive legal system, our fight for justice is only beginning,” the family said. “We will seek all other avenues for overturning Yuyu’s wrongful conviction.”
The sentence “threatens all foreigners who interact with Chinese citizens, silences all freethinking Chinese citizens open to interacting with the world, and intentionally chills people-to-people exchange,” they added.
Chinese authorities have previously said they handled the case strictly in line with the law.
The United States has described Dong’s sentencing as “unjust”, and called for his immediate, unconditional release.
“No journalist should be jailed for simply speaking with diplomats,” said Beh Li Yi, an Asia-Pacific official of the Committee to Protect Journalists, who also called for Dong’s immediate release. “It is time to end this injustice.”
Dong regularly had in-person exchanges with diplomats from various embassies and journalists. He was a visiting scholar and visiting professor at Japan’s Keio and Hokkaido universities, as well as a Nieman Fellow at Harvard university in 2007.
He joined the Guangming Daily, affiliated to the ruling Communist Party, in 1987, after graduating from Peking University law school, and was the deputy editor of its commentary section.
He wrote opinion articles in Chinese media and liberal academic journals on topics from legal reforms to social issues, and co-edited a book promoting the rule of law in China.
(Reporting by James Pomfret; Editing by Clarence Fernandez)
Comments