Detained for 21 months without appearing before judge
This is the fate of a journalist, Zhao Yan, who was accused of revealing "State Secrets" to an overseas newspaper. His trial may start on 8 June: he faces a minimum of 10 years in prison on charges classically used to nail dissidents.
Beijing (AsiaNews/HRW) The trial against Zhao Yan, a journalist accused of revealing State Secrets, may start on 8 June. Human Rights Watch (HRW) has said it is practically impossible to defend oneself from such a charge, classically used to strike at dissidents. The rights watchdog has appealled to the Chinese government for a public and fair trial.
Zhao was detained on 17 September 2004 for an article published in a New York daily that foretold the resignation of the former president, Jiang Zemin, from head of the party's Central Military Commission, paving the way for President Hu Jintao to seize full powers.
Zhao and the daily newspaper have denied the charges, but in 21 months, Zhao has never appeared before a judge. Shortly before the visit of President Hu to Washington in April, the Public Ministry dropped the charges against him but reinstated identical ones two months later. His lawyer, Mo Shaoping, has denounced the long delays and several procedural irregularities.
The revelation abroad of State secrets is punishable by sentencing ranging from 10 years in prison to capital punishment. During his career, Zhao denounced episodes of poor governance, like the saga of the Tangshan mayor who misappropriated compensation owed to thousands of peasants, whose lands were seized and who had to relocate because of the construction of the Hebei dam.
"There have been multiple violations of due process in Zhao Yan's case, and serious concerns that he may be the victim of politically motivated charges," said Sophie Richardson, deputy director of the HRW Asia division. "His rights have been so severely curtailed that his trial amounts to a mockery of justice."
China's law on safeguarding State Secrets can be applied practically across the board and severely limits the rights of the accused. All meetings between the defendant and his lawyer must be approved by the investigating authorities and the defence does not have the right to know the evidence in the hands of the prosecution. The trial could take place behind closed doors. The State Secrets Bureau enjoys absolute authority to classify something as a state secret and it is impossible to refute its decisions.
HRW accused China of using state secrets to prosecute actions that are not criminal in any other states. This is what happened in the case of a Shanghai lawyer Zheng Enchong, who was acting on behalf of forcibly evicted residents in city. He was sentenced to three years in prison for providing an internal Xinhua news agency dispatch relating a labour protest. The same thing happened in April 2005 to Shi Tao, a journalist from Changsha, who was jailed for 10 years for passing on to overseas websites Chinese government instructions to media organizations on how to cover the 15th anniversary of the Tiananmen massacre. The same "crimes" led to the imprisonment in 2004 of Liu Fenggang, Xu Yonghai and Zhang Shengqi for violation under state secrets charges, because they documented the destruction of "house" churches in Zhejiang.
The government has used state secrets to cover up the 2004 SARS epidemic and major industrial accidents. It was not until 2005 that natural disasters were no longer considered state secrets.
"State secrets have become the weapon of choice for prosecuting people like Zhao Yan that the Chinese authorities want silenced," said Richardson. "Until the State Security Bureau explains what the [violated] 'state secret' was and Zhao is given an opportunity to challenge this, his trial will be little more than a farce."
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