HK journalist jailed in China asks to serve term near home

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HK journalist jailed in China asks to serve term near home



Agence France-Presse
Last updated 02:44pm (Mla time) 11/26/2006


HONG KONG--Veteran Hong Kong journalist Ching Cheong, jailed in China for spying for Taiwan, has asked that he serve his five-year sentence at a prison closer to home, his family said Sunday.

After an appeal against his conviction was last week refused following in a brief closed-door court session, Ching, 56, requested a transfer from his prison believed to be in Beijing to one in southern Guangdong province.

"It would be more convenient for his family to visit him," his wife Mary Lau told local RTHK radio.

"In order to visit him regularly it would be more convenient for him to be in prison in the Guangdong area," Lau added.

Ching was sentenced on August 31 to five years in jail following a one-day, closed-door trial on espionage charges. He has always maintained his innocence.

In its original verdict, a lower Beijing court said Ching passed on information, some of it top secret, to two people from a Taiwanese foundation who were in fact deputies of an intelligence agency.

The case has attracted international attention, highlighting fears China is cracking down against foreign and domestic journalists in the run-up to the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing.

His family, who have campaigned for his release since he was arrested, say Ching's health problems have worsened since he was imprisoned.