2014-10-01
A file photo of Chinese journalist Gao Yu speaking at a press conference in Hong Kong.
AFP
Imprisoned veteran Chinese journalist Gao Yu has hired well-known rights lawyer Mo Shaoping to defend her against charges of “leaking state secrets,” replacing her former attorney as her case moves closer to trial, sources said.
Gao was secretly detained on April 24, and then formally arrested on May 30, as authorities rounded up dozens of rights activists and dissidents for questioning ahead of the anniversary of the June 4, 1989 military crackdown on pro-democracy demonstrations in Beijing’s Tiananmen Square.
She was later paraded on the ruling Chinese Communist Party’s state television channel, where she was shown, her face blurred on screen, apparently confessing to having obtained a highly confidential document and sent it to an overseas website.
Gao’s former lawyer Zhang Sizhi, 87, can no longer represent Gao for reasons of health, a friend of the jailed journalist told RFA’s Mandarin Service on Wednesday.
“Mr. Mo has already submitted the documents needed for the change of attorney,” the friend said, speaking on condition of anonymity. “He gave them to the court on Tuesday.”
Gao’s case was recently transferred from the prosecutor’s office to the court, opening a period of pretrial review of about a month and a half, she said.
“But I don’t know [exactly] when Gao’s case was transferred to the court,” she said.
A ‘political case’
“Mo Shaoping himself is happy to work in defending Gao Yu,” said former Deutsche Welle reporter Su Yutong, another friend of Gao’s.
“He said that he can begin working on the case after the current National Day holiday week, when he will be able to review files in the court and start work on some other tasks.”
Su confirmed that Gao’s family and Mo’s office had signed a contract on Tuesday to hire Mo as Gao’s defense attorney.
