By: E&P Staff A freelance writer was sentenced to 12 years in prison Tuesday, receiving an unusually harsh penalty amid one of China's most severe media crackdowns since the 1980s.
The sentencing of Yang Tianshui on subversion charges was one of a flurry of court actions Tuesday against Chinese reporters. In Beijing, prosecutors filed a new indictment against a Chinese researcher for The New York Times who has been in custody since 2004 on state secrets charges. In southern China, a journalist went on trial and pleaded innocent to extortion charges.
Yang was convicted after being accused of posting articles on foreign Web sites, receiving money from abroad and helping a would-be opposition party, according to his lawyer, Li Jianqiang.
"We think Yang is innocent and should be released immediately," Li said by phone from the eastern city of Zhenjiang. "I regret this result deeply."
The cases come amid a campaign by President Hu Jintao's government to tighten control over newspapers, Web sites and other media, stamping out content deemed politically or morally dangerous.
"Fearing that news of land disputes and other civil discontent could fuel a united threat to its authority, the Communist Party government has undertaken one of the biggest media crackdowns since the aftermath of the 1989 Tiananmen Square pro-democracy demonstrations," the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists said in a report issued Tuesday.
China is believed to be the world's leading jailer of journalists, with at least 42 behind bars, many on charges of violating vague security or subversion laws.
Beijing's economic success has persuaded its leaders that they can "basically behave like they want," said Jean Philippe Beja, research director at the Paris-based Center for International Studies and Research.
In the case of Times researcher Zhao Yan, it wasn't clear whether the new indictment was based on new charges or on a case that was dismissed earlier, said his lawyer, Mo Shaoping.
Mo said he didn't expect to be allowed to see the indictment until later this week.
The case against Zhao was dismissed in March ahead of Hu's visit to Washington in what appeared to be an effort to remove an irritant in U.S.-Chinese relations.
Mo said he was told the court "resumed the case," which he said Chinese law doesn't permit.
Zhao is believed to have been detained in connection with a report by the newspaper about former President Jiang Zemin's plans to give up a key military post. Zhao's family was told he was accused of leaking state secrets to foreigners.
In Yang's case, the penalty probably was unusually severe because he already had served a 10-year term for criticizing the 1989 crackdown, said Li, his lawyer.
Yang, 43, was detained in December in a crackdown on public discussion of corruption, political reform and social problems.
The maximum penalty is life in prison, but most sentences are much shorter, though some prominent activists have been jailed for up to 13 years.
In the extortion case, reporter Yang Xiaoqing said in court in Longhui County in Hunan province that the evidence against him was false, said his lawyer, Zhang Xingshui.
Authorities accused Yang of concocting reports in order to extort up to $100,000 from county officials, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists.
Yang's wife said he was targeted after he wrote articles accusing a Communist Party official of embezzling state assets. The official has denied framing the reporter.
Chinese journalists pursuing sensitive stories often face violence and harassment, sometimes from local authorities.
The latest cases came as two other Chinese writers who stood trial on subversion charges in unrelated cases in recent weeks were awaiting verdicts:
? Li Yuanlong, 45, a reporter for the newspaper Bijie Daily in the southern province of Guizhou. He was detained in February after posting essays on foreign Web sites that are banned in China, according to New York-based Human Rights in China.
? Li Jianping, a 40-year-old freelance writer, who was detained last May after posting political essays on the Internet. He stood trial in April in the eastern city of Zibo.
Li's lawyer has argued that he had the legal right to express his opinions publicly.
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