Originally posted by the Voice of America.
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                China Reduces Sentence of 71-Year-Old Journalist

   by VOA News

   Chinese authorities have reduced the sentence of a 71-year-old
   journalist imprisoned for leaking state secrets.

   The lawyer for Gao Yu said a court reduced her sentence from seven
   years to five on Thursday. Her lawyers are now seeking medical release,
   as Gao suffers heart trouble.

   Gao had been jailed for six years following the government crackdown on
   the Tiananmen Square protests in 1989, also charged with "leaking state
   secrets."

   She was jailed again earlier this year, convicted of leaking a
   government document known as Document No. 9 to the media. Her lawyers
   say they have shown the court evidence that she did not leak the
   document, and foreign governments and rights groups have denounced her
   detention as politically motivated.

   The United States included Gao Yu in a social media campaign called
   "Free the 20" - highlighting the cases of 20 female political prisoners
   from 13 countries.

   Before her trial in April, Gao appeared on state television and issued
   a confession, but later told the trial court that it had been coerced.
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   [1]http://www.voanews.com/content/china-reduces-sentence-of-gao-yu/3074
   577.html

References

   1. http://www.voanews.com/content/china-reduces-sentence-of-gao-yu/3074577.html