A journalist who had worked for some of China’s most powerful propaganda outlets has been jailed for 15 years after being accused of attacking the ruling Communist Party, court documents showed.
The sentence handed down on Chen Jieren is one of the harshest moves yet against free speech by China’s government under President Xi Jinping, who has muzzled the press and ordered Chinese media outlets to serve the ruling Communist Party’s interests.
It comes as China faces international scrutiny over its handling of the coronavirus pandemic, including questions over whether authorities covered up crucial information that could have prevented it spreading globally.
Chen, a former journalist with Communist mouthpiece People’s Daily, was convicted on Thursday of “picking quarrels and provoking trouble, extortion, illegal business operations and bribery,” a court in central Hunan province said in a statement posted online.
The charge of “picking quarrels and provoking trouble” is a catch-all that Chinese authorities sometimes use against people who criticise the regime.
The court statement said Chen had posted “false” and “negative” information online “to hype relevant cases under the guise of providing legal advice.”
It said Chen was part of an “evil force” along with his ex-wife and three other people that illegally accrued 7.3 million yuan ($1 million) from their activities.
The Chinese Human Rights Defenders watchdog said Chen was convicted “apparently to punish him for his political speech on WeChat and other social media platforms”, calling for his immediate and unconditional release.
It said Chen had been sacked from state media outlets including the China Youth Daily, Beijing Daily, and People’s Daily.
Since then he had published online commentaries and investigative reports on social media. The group accused Chinese authorities of denying Chen a fair trial.
