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Australian journalist Cheng Lei to be tried in Beijing on state secrets charges next week
An Australian television journalist detained in China for more than 19 months will be put on trial, likely in a closed court, on state secrets charges that could see her face anything from a short sentence to life behind bars.
Cheng Lei, a former high-profile anchor for the Chinese government’s English-language broadcaster CGTN, is facing accusations of providing state secrets or intelligence to foreigners or foreign organisations.
- Bill Birtles
- ABC
She has been held in Beijing since August 2020 and was initially denied access to lawyers while being detained under an extra-judicial interrogation process called “residential surveillance” at a prison.
Two people close to the…