China confirmed the suspended death sentence of writer and pro-democracy activist Yang Hengjun, an Australian citizen of Chinese origin, according to his family, this Monday, coinciding with the visit to Australia of Chinese Prime Minister, Li Qiang.
“The authorities have analyzed and confirmed his suspended death sentence,” said his family and friends in a statement cited this Monday by Australian public broadcaster SBS.
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“It is known that Yang is now being transferred to a permanent prison after more than five years in a state security detention center,” the text adds, without providing further details.
Yang, a former civil servant China who obtained Australian nationality in 2002, was sentenced in February this year to a suspended death sentence on charges of espionage, which prevents his execution in the next two years if he does not commit any serious crime, after three years of an opaque trial. .
The defenders of Yangwho maintains he is innocent and suffers from serious health problems, urged Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese on Monday to ask Li Qiang that the 58-year-old academic “be released on medical parole or otherwise transferred to a safe location in Australia in accordance with basic humanitarian principles.”
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Albanese is expected to address Yang’s case during his meeting on Monday in Canberra with Li, the country’s number two. Chinese Government and the first leader of the Asian giant to visit Australia since 2017, the year in which relations began to deteriorate for various reasons.
“We will not always agree, and the points on which we disagree will not simply disappear if we leave them silent,” according to an excerpt of the speech – leaked by The Sydney Morning Herald – that Albanese will deliver during the meeting with Li, who arrived on Saturday to Australia during an official visit to normalize bilateral relations that ends on Tuesday.
Yang, a former employee of Chinese Ministry of Security who has written about political issues in China and the United States on a successful blog, suffers from a serious kidney infection and his health has deteriorated due to the conditions of his confinement and the erratic administration of medication, according to previous statements by his family.
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The writer, who obtained citizenship from Australia in 2002, after emigrating there in 1998, he was living with his family in New York when in early 2019 he was detained at Canton airport while making a stopover on his way to Australiaamid deteriorating relations between Beijing and Canberra.
Source: Elcomercio
I am Jack Morton and I work in 24 News Recorder. I mostly cover world news and I have also authored 24 news recorder. I find this work highly interesting and it allows me to keep up with current events happening around the world.
