Message from Jared Genser to SupportersJared Genser Dear Friends, As you know, Dr. Yang Jianli was put on trial today in Beijing. The trial, which was closed to the public, ended without a verdict. Mo Shaoping, Dr. Yang's Chinese lawyer put on a strong case. Yang Jianli also made a statement to the court in which he denied the charges against him. Unfortunately, we are unable to share additional information about his statement because Mo Shaoping was instructed that Yang Jianli's statements constituted "state secrets" and if they were released to the media Mo could be prosecuted for "leaking state secrets" - another sad example of the lack of transparency in the Chinese judicial system. Below, you will find sampling of news articles from AFP, AP, Reuters, BBC, and ABC Radio Australia. In addition, I have also attached an Opinion- Editorial from Jerry Cohen and I that appeared in this morning's Asian Wall Street Journal. We have also done numerous other media hits including syndicated ratio on BBC's "The World" and Radio America's "News Beat." Associated Press TV plans to do a story and we may see an Editorial in tomorrow's USA Today. Finally, there is an essay that appears in this week's Time Magazine (International) and a smaller piece in the National Edition. Mo Shaoping has said he expects a verdict to be issued within the next six weeks. We see this case as a key test of President Hu Jintao's leadership and expect to keep the pressure on the PRC until this case is resolved. Thanks so much, on behalf of Christina and her family, for all of your support. Best,
Jared Genser
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Beijing trial of US-based dissident Yang Jianli ends without verdict BEIJING (AFP) - An espionage trial of a US-based democracy activist, which is seen as an important test case for the new Chinese government's views on dissent, ended behind closed doors without a verdict. Yang Jianli, who appeared at the Beijing No. 2 Intermediate People's Court after 15 months in detention, declared himself innocent of both spying and an additional charge of entering China illegally, his lawyer said. "He used his right to defend himself in court and declared himself innocent of both charges," Mo Shaoping told AFP shortly after the three-hour trial ended. The court will not announce a verdict immediately, but under normal circumstances it should be expected within six weeks, he said. The punishment meted out to Yang may help show whether China's political climate has changed after a new generation of leaders took over earlier this year, observers said. "The case might provide some perspective on new President Hu Jintao and the approach his administration will take towards dissidents," said Jared Genser, Yang's US-based legal adviser and leader of rights group Freedom Now. Forty-year-old Yang, a US resident on a Chinese blacklist of people barred from entry, was detained in April last year after he traveled to China on a friend's passport in an attempt to observe ongoing labor unrest. "He declared himself innocent of illegal entry, since as a Chinese citizen he has a right to return to his home country," said Mo, the lawyer. According to a copy of an opinion recommending prosecution issued by the Beijing Bureau of National Security and obtained by AFP, the spying charge is based on activities that took place a decade ago. Yang supporters have said these activities are entirely innocuous, including the donation of 100 US dollars for a Chinese agricultural scientist's research into papaya trees. The spuriousness of the spying charge is the likely reason why China decided to close the trial, barring relatives or US embassy staff from attending, according to Genser. "If the outside world did attend, and saw the evidence, it would probably have a very large question about why he is being charged with espionage at all," he said. An espionage conviction can carry the death penalty in China, although it is unlikely to be used in Yang's case due to the high level of foreign interest in it. Both Lorne Craner, the US State Department's top human rights official, and James Kelly, its leading East Asia hand, have met with Chinese embassy officials to urge more transparency in the case, sources said. Last week the US Senate unanimously passed a resolution warning that cases like Yang's could harm relations between Beijing and Washington. Yang entered the court building early Monday without wearing handcuffs, a witness said. His sister and brother had traveled from eastern Shandong province in hopes of catching a glimpse of him. "They were hoping they could get a glance at him or meet him when his car passed by, but they didn't," Yang's wife Christina Fu told AFP from the United States. One man waiting outside the court said he had traveled from northeastern Liaoning province to attend the trial, but had not been allowed inside, because the case involved "state secrets". "I'm here to help push the historic development towards greater freedom," he said. "That's the responsibility of any citizen." Yang, a father of two, is the founder and president of the Foundation for China in the 21st Century, which seeks to promote the cause of democracy. He has been engaged in attempts to promote understanding among China's various ethnic groups, including the majority Han, the Tibetans and the Turkic- speaking Uighurs. --- Family: U.S.-based Chinese activist goes on trial in Beijing on spying charges JOE McDONALD, Associated Press Writer Sunday, August 3, 2003 (08-03) 21:59 PDT BEIJING (AP) -- A U.S.-based Chinese activist went on trial Monday in a Beijing court on espionage charges, his wife and her lawyer said. Yang Jianli, who runs a foundation in Boston that advocates political change in China, was detained in April 2002 after visiting China to meet other activists and laid-off workers. He was using a friend's passport, so he also faces a less serious charge of entering the country illegally. Yang's wife, Christina Fu, said his trial started at 9:30 a.m. local time in the Beijing No. 2 Intermediate People's Court. A court spokesman, Gao Zhihan, said he couldn't confirm whether the trial had started because it was closed to the public. Only one lawyer was allowed to accompany Yang into court, Fu said by telephone from the United States. Yang is accused of acting as an agent of the Nationalist Party, the former ruling party of rival Taiwan, said Fu's lawyer, Jared Genser. He said the charges appear to stem from four $100 grants given by a foundation run by Yang to activists in China to promote human rights and democracy. China has detained a number of Chinese-born academics and others with U.S. ties in recent years on charges of spying for Taiwan. Most were convicted and then expelled. Taiwan has been ruled separately from China since 1949, but Beijing claims the island as its territory and has threatened to capture it by force. The two sides are believed to actively spy on each other. Yang, a mathematician and economist with permanent U.S. residency, moved to the United States in the 1980s. According to Fu, he has been barred from China since 1989, when he traveled to Beijing to take money to the Tiananmen Square pro-democracy protesters. The protests ended in an attack by China's military on June 4, 1989. Yang was detained while trying to board a plane in China's southwest using a forged identity card. Fu has said Yang entered China using his friend's passport because Chinese diplomats in the United States refused to renew his own. The communist government rejected a ruling in June by the U.N. Human Rights Commission that it had acted illegally by failing to give Yang a fair trial on the passport charges. The maximum penalty in Chinese law for espionage is death, but Genser said Yang's family doesn't expect that to be imposed. "He could prospectively get life in prison," Genser said. ---
U.S.-Based China Scholar on Trial for Spying BEIJING (Reuters) - A U.S.-based Chinese scholar prominent in pro-democracy circles went on trial behind closed doors in Beijing on Monday charged with illegal entry and spying for Taiwan, his wife said. Yang Jianli's trial comes after the U.S. Senate last week condemned his 15- month detention and called for his release. "Chances of the court meting out a not guilty (verdict) are small. We're worried," his wife, Christina Fu, told Reuters by telephone from Boston. Yang, 40, was planning to plead not guilty to the charges before the Beijing Number Two Intermediate People's Court, lawyer Mo Shaoping told Reuters last week. Yang's brother and sister traveled to Beijing from their home in the eastern province of Shandong, but have been barred from attending the trial, Fu said. Yang, a permanent U.S. resident, was arrested in April 2002 after allegedly entering China on a friend's passport and traveling for a week with a fake identity card -- mainly to observe labor unrest in the northeastern rust belt. There was uncertainty over what sentence he might face. His sister said he could be sentenced to death if convicted of spying, but lawyer Mo said his client faced a maximum of life in prison if found guilty. A court spokesman said he had no information on the case. ---
Spy trial opens in Beijing The trial of a US-based dissident charged with espionage, has opened in a Beijing court, with relatives, onlookers and US embassy officials barred from attending. The AFP newsagency says Yang Jianli was detained in April last year after entering China using a friend's passport in an attempt to observe ongoing labour unrest. Mr Yang, a father of two, is the founder and president of the Foundation for China in the 21st Century, which seeks to promote the cause of democracy in China. Mr Yang's case has come to trial despite reported high-level diplomatic pressure from the United States. Last week, the US Senate unanimously passed a resolution warning cases such as Yang's could harm relations between Beijing and Washington. --- Chinese activist on trial A prominent US-based Chinese democracy activist, Yang Jianli, has gone on trial in Beijing, accused of spying for Taiwan. Mr Yang, who was detained in April last year, is also charged with illegally entering China. His lawyer said he would deny the charges. Mr Yang is the head of a Boston-based foundation advocating democratic change in China. He left China in 1989 after the suppression of the pro-democracy protests in Tiananmen Square. He was banned from re-entering the country but did so last year to investigate labour unrest in northern China. There has been intense international pressure for his release. From the newsroom of the BBC World Service ---
Asian Wall Street Journal
COMMENTARY
Yang Jianli's Trial of Injustice Today at 9 a.m., Yang Jianli, a brilliant Chinese democracy activist who was permanently excluded from his homeland after June 4, 1989, is due to be put on trial in Beijing on criminal charges of illegal return and spying for Taiwan. Although Mr. Yang contests the charges, if experience is any guide his trial may be over before noon. No member of the public, the press or even Mr. Yang's family, friends, foreign legal advisers such as ourselves or NGO representatives can attend the trial, since the Ministry of State Security has claimed that the case involves "state secrets." Even though Mr. Yang, who holds doctorates from both Harvard and Berkeley, has long been a permanent resident of the United States, received strong support from the U.S. State Department since his detention in April last year and been the subject of both Senate and House of Representatives resolutions unanimously urging his release, the U.S. Embassy will not be permitted to have an observer at the trial. Nor will the United Nations, although the U.N. Working Group on Arbitrary Detention recently determined that Mr. Yang's confinement violates minimum international human-rights standards. Mr. Yang will be there alone with his lawyer, the able and experienced Mo Shaoping, who has been unsuccessfully trying to assist Mr. Yang for over 14 months, and was finally allowed to see him only after the secret police finished their investigation and sent the case to the prosecutor's office. Until then, the police kept Mr. Yang totally incommunicado. Ever since the 1996 criminal procedure code reforms, suspects in China generally have a right to meet counsel soon after they are detained, but, as so often happens, the police denied Mr. Yang that right. Their first excuse was that lawyer Mr. Mo could not show them a copy of the police notice that should have informed Mr. Yang's family that he had been detained and identified the detaining authority, the reasons for the detention and Mr. Yang's location. Of course, the lawyer could not present this document because, despite frequent requests from Mr. Yang's family, the police refused to issue it. Reports in the foreign press, a hearing before the U.S. Congressional Executive Commission on China and U.S. Embassy protests exposed the spuriousness of this first excuse to deny counsel. So, many months after Mr. Yang's detention, after the secret police had exceeded the legal time limit for holding him on the original charge of illegal return to China, they came up with a new idea. They added an espionage charge, which not only enabled them to start the clock again on the time limit for Mr. Yang's detention, but also gave them a new excuse for denying Mr. Yang access to counsel until they exhausted their investigation -- the case now was said to involve "state secrets." The Beijing Prosecutor's Office approved the State Security Bureau's request for prosecution, as it usually does. By indicting Mr. Yang for espionage, it transformed an insignificant illegal border-crossing case, for which the maximum penalty of one year in custody has already been served by Mr. Yang, into a major political case for which he might, in theory, even be sentenced to death. The espionage charge alleges that in 1991, in the United States, Mr. Yang "accepted assignments" and financial support from the Mainland Work Committee of Taiwan's Nationalist Party (Kuomintang), which the prosecution brands a "spy agency." These assignments were to spread the "Three People's Principles" of democracy, human rights and social welfare (made famous by modern China's first political leader, Sun Yat-sen), to develop a wide circle of acquaintances and to "collect public opinion" in China. In order to "develop a wide circle of acquaintances," Mr. Yang is said to have established the Chinese Youth Development Foundation in the U.S. and in 1993- 94 sent membership applications to several relatives and friends in China; he allegedly delivered the completed forms to the Taiwan organization and then sent $100 to each of the applicants. It is also said that he asked someone to obtain "inside documents" from China, but no other acts are alleged in furtherance of his "assignments." The evidence, so far as the defense is allowed to know it before trial, consists overwhelmingly of the statements extracted from Mr. Yang during his long incommunicado detention. As usual in such cases, these statements are characterized as the "confession" of the accused, although Mr. Yang vigorously expressed his determination to challenge the charges in the three brief meetings he has recently been allowed with his counsel. The accuracy of the statements made by Mr. Yang during more than a year in detention must, of course, be open to question. His family and colleagues would be in a good position to assist defense counsel in evaluating the defendant's statements. But, because the case supposedly involves "state secrets," lawyer Mr. Mo has been instructed not to reveal the evidence even to members of Mr. Yang's family who retained him. Any failure by Mr. Mo to comply with those instructions could easily lead to his own prosecution for "leaking state secrets," as has happened to other Chinese lawyers. Similarly, if at trial Mr. Mo assists Mr. Yang in repudiating any part of his jailhouse statements, Mr. Mo himself can be prosecuted, as many Chinese lawyers have been, under the notorious Article 306 of the Criminal Code -- known to the Chinese Bar as "the sword of Damocles" -- for submitting "false evidence" to the court. Mr. Yang is determined to resist even the charge that he committed illegal entry by using a friend's passport to return to China. Presumably he will argue that, contrary to international law, the Chinese government arbitrarily denied him the right of every citizen to return to his homeland, giving him no alternative but subterfuge in order to avoid compulsory life-long exile. Chinese criminal prosecutions against political dissidents offer very limited opportunity to resist the charges. Even in nonpolitical criminal cases, witnesses seldom appear in court; although the right to cross-examine witnesses was part of the 1996 criminal procedure reforms, that right, like so many others, is seldom realized. At best, Chinese courts are weak and unreliable institutions, despite increasingly successful efforts to improve their quality. In politically sensitive criminal cases the courts simply take orders from Communist Party and government leaders. It is possible that Mr. Yang will be sentenced before lunch today, even while his brother and sister anxiously pace the sidewalk outside the court. This is what courts did in the famous Taiwan espionage cases of Li Shaomin and Gao Zhan in 2001. Yet when the political leadership is bitterly divided over the punishment even two years might elapse between trial and judgment. The well- known lawyer Zhang Jianzhong, who reportedly offended certain leaders by the vigor of his defense in high-profile criminal cases, was put on trial in January for allegedly falsifying evidence in a business transaction and is still awaiting the outcome. That Mr. Yang will be convicted is not in doubt. The conviction rate is close to 100% for political cases that go to trial in China. No rational observer believes that the death penalty, which is an available option, might actually be meted out. But the recent unexpected and extraordinarily harsh sentence to life imprisonment of another North American-based political dissident, Wang Bingzhang -- after a truncated "trial" -- warns us not to be complacent. There are many distinctions between Mr. Wang's case and Mr. Yang's. The charges and evidence against Mr. Yang are much closer to and much weaker than those against Li Shaomin and Gao Zhan. Mr. Li, an American citizen, was merely sentenced to deportation. Ms. Gao, a Chinese national permanently residing in the U.S., received a stiff 10 years in prison, but was nevertheless immediately permitted to leave the People's Republic. Mr. Yang's sentence should not be as severe as Ms. Gao's, and immediate release would surely be appropriate since he has already been confined for over 15 months, in contrast to the six months suffered by Mr. Li and Ms. Gao before trial. But Mr. Li and Ms. Gao had the good fortune to be sentenced at a time when China eagerly sought entry into the World Trade Organization. Since clearing that hurdle, Chinese leaders have brushed off U.S. Congressional pleas for leniency toward most political dissidents. Similarly, since Sept. 11 and especially during 2003, the Chinese government has been able to welsh on its human-rights commitments to the U.S. because of the need for China's cooperation on Iraq, North Korea and other problems. That is why Rebiya Kadeer, a successful businesswoman of the Uighur minority, continues to serve an eight-year sentence in Xinjiang province for virtually nothing more than sending local newspapers to her dissident husband in the U.S. after a trial so secret and ludicrous that even Xinjiang judges other than those who handled the case were forbidden to witness it. And that is why labor activist Yao Fuxin, who led a demonstration last year in Liaoning province for workers' rights and against corruption, is still serving a seven- year sentence for "instigating the overthrow of state power." Ironically, it was the desire to learn more about the Liaoning labor disturbance that tempted Yang Jianli to risk return to China. And it was Mo Shaoping who sought to defend Yao Fuxin in a courtroom that was a political pressure-cooker. Will his current client fare any better today? Certainly all of us who want to see China stand tall in the world of justice as well as that of business will keep our fingers crossed. Mr. Cohen is professor of Chinese law at New York University Law School and adjunct senior fellow for Asia at the Council on Foreign Relations in New York. Mr. Genser is president of Freedom Now, a Washington-based nonprofit organization that works to free prisoners of conscience. Both are legal advisers to Mr. Yang's family.
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