BEIJING: Australian journalist Cheng Lei went on trial behind closed doors in a heavily guarded Beijing court on Thursday on charges of providing state secrets to a foreign country, more than 19 months after she was detained.
Cheng, 46, was a television anchor for Chinese state broadcaster CGTN before being detained in August 2020. She was formally arrested a year ago on suspicion of illegally supplying state secrets overseas.
Cheng’s family members have said they are convinced she is innocent.
A heavy contingent of uniformed police and plain-clothed security personnel were positioned outside the No.2 People’s Intermediate Court where Cheng was to be tried. Police, who had taped off areas close to the north entrance of the court, checked journalists’ IDs and asked them to move away.
Australian Ambassador Graham Fletcher was barred from entering the court.
“In this case, the defendant is suspected of the crime of illegally providing state secrets to a foreign country, which is a case involving state secrets and is not handled openly, so is not open to visitors,” a court official told him.
Fletcher told reporters that he was concerned because Australia had no information about the charges Cheng faces and cannot understand why she was being detained.
“This is deeply concerning, unsatisfactory and regrettable,” he said of being excluded from court.
“We can have no confidence in the validity of a process which is conducted in secret,” he told journalists before leaving.
Australian diplomats have had regular visits with Cheng, most recently on March 21. “Considering the circumstances she’s doing ok,” Fletcher said.
Australia has previously said it was concerned about Cheng’s welfare and conditions of detention and what it said was a “lack of transparency” over the case.
China’s courts have a conviction rate of well over 99 percent, according to calculations by China Justice Observer, a local web portal.
It was not clear when a verdict would be handed down.
“Her two children and elderly parents miss her immensely and sincerely hope to reunite with her as soon as possible,” Cheng’s family said in a statement provided to Reuters.
At a regular news conference earlier this week, a Chinese foreign ministry spokesman did not directly respond to a Reuters query on whether Australian officials would be permitted to attend, but did say that Cheng’s rights would be fully guaranteed.
Last May, in a separate case at the same court, Australia’s ambassador to China was denied entry to the trial of Australian blogger Yang Hengjun, who was accused of espionage. In a trial last March of Canadian former diplomat Michael Kovrig in the same court, Canadian officials were denied entry.
Cheng was born in China and moved with her parents to Australia as a child. Later she returned to China where she built a television career first with CNBC, starting in 2003, and later, starting from 2012, as a prominent business news anchor for China’s English-language CGTN.
The trial comes as diplomatic relations between Australia and China remain tense, after Canberra urged an international probe into the source of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 and Beijing responded with trade reprisals.
Australian journalist tried behind closed doors in Beijing court
https://arab.news/mqc9v
Australian journalist tried behind closed doors in Beijing court
- Cheng Lei was a television anchor for Chinese state broadcaster CGTN before being detained in August 2020
Rights group condemns Sudan’s RSF for journalist’s ‘heinous’ killing
- Hanan Adam and her brother died during an attack on their home in Wad Al-Asha
The International Federation of Journalists has condemned the killing of Sudanese journalist Hanan Adam by the Rapid Support Forces, describing it as a “heinous” crime.
The media rights group called for urgent action to address the escalating climate of fear and violence against journalists in Sudan.
Adam, who worked for the Ministry of Culture and Information in Gezira state and was a correspondent for Al-Maidan, the newspaper of the Sudanese Communist Party, was killed alongside her brother, Youssef Adam, during an RSF attack on their home in Wad Al-Asha on Dec. 8.
“We mourn the loss of our colleague, Hanan Adam, and her brother Youssef, and extend our deepest condolences to the family,” IFJ General Secretary Anthony Bellanger said in a statement on Tuesday.
“The IFJ calls on the Sudanese government to launch an investigation and take concrete action to end the climate of fear and violence that journalists endure in the country.”
Her employer, Al-Maidan newspaper, released a statement on Facebook mourning Adam’s death, highlighting her dedication to journalism armed with “only paper and pen.”
Adam is the sixth journalist killed in Sudan this year, making it the deadliest country for media professionals in Africa in 2024.
The RSF has been directly implicated in the deaths of at least five journalists since the conflict erupted in April 2023, cementing its reputation for targeting members of the press and media workers.
The IFJ’s call for justice comes amid growing international scrutiny of the RSF and the deteriorating safety of journalists in Sudan with the country mired in a conflict fueled by a power struggle between rival generals.
Iran lifts ban on WhatsApp and Google Play, state media says
- Most of US-based social media remain blocked
DUBAI: Iranian authorities have lifted a ban on Meta’s instant messaging platform WhatsApp and Google Play as a first step to scale back Internet restrictions, Iranian state media reported on Tuesday.
The Islamic Republic has some of the strictest controls on Internet access in the world, but its blocks on US-based social media such as Facebook, Twitter and YouTube are routinely bypassed by tech-savvy Iranians using virtual private networks.
“A positive majority vote has been reached to lift limitations on access to some popular foreign platforms such as WhatsApp and Google Play,” Iran’s official IRNA news agency said on Tuesday, referring to a meeting on the matter headed by President Masoud Pezeshkian.
“Today the first step in removing Internet limitations... has been taken,” IRNA cited Iran’s Minister of Information and Communications Technology Sattar Hashemi as saying.
Social media platforms were widely used in anti-government protests in Iran.
In September the United States called on Big Tech to help evade online censorship in countries that heavily sensor the Internet, including Iran.
Slovenia calls for Israel’s exclusion from Eurovision 2025
- Slovenia threatened to withdraw from Eurovision if its demand to exclude Israel over Gaza attacks is rejected by the European Broadcasting Union
- Organizers cautioned that Israel’s plan to privatize its Kan broadcaster could lead to the country’s removal from the competition
LONDON: Slovenia has called on the European Broadcasting Union to disqualify Israel from the 2025 Eurovision Song Contest over its ongoing military actions in Gaza, Israeli media reported.
Slovenia’s public broadcaster, RTV SLO, formally submitted a letter to the EBU urging Israel’s exclusion, citing its attacks on the Gaza Strip as grounds for disqualification.
The broadcaster warned that Slovenia might withdraw from the contest entirely if its request is denied.
The controversy follows Slovenian President Natasa Pirc Musar’s recent comments condemning Israel and Russia for violating the UN Charter with their respective wars in Gaza and Ukraine. She emphasized that Israel’s actions were on a “much larger scale.”
Eurovision, which celebrates its 69th edition next year, has faced repeated criticism over Israel’s participation.
In the most recent competition, several artists called for Israel’s boycott, arguing that its military operations in Gaza conflicted with the contest’s values.
Protests also erupted earlier this year in Malmo, Sweden, during Israel’s qualification for the finals.
Organizers resisted calls to disqualify Israel maintaining that Eurovision is a “non-political event” and noting that Russia’s exclusion in 2022 was due to the suspension of Russian broadcasters from the EBU for “persistent breaches of membership obligations and violations of public service values.”
Israel’s place in Eurovision faces further uncertainty amid domestic moves to privatize Kan, the country’s public broadcaster.
While Israel qualifies for Eurovision as a member of the EBU, the union warned this week that Kan’s privatization would result in Israel’s removal from the organization.
“Privatising Kan would lead to its removal from our union, limit Israel’s role in international events like Eurovision and prevent Israeli viewers from accessing content such as the 2026 World Cup” the letter from EBU read.
Alon Gellert, Kan’s representative in the Knesset, described attempts to exclude Israel from Eurovision as part of efforts by “antisemitic organizations and Palestinian activists.”
He warned, however, that dismantling Kan could inadvertently achieve those objectives.
“The state of Israel fights tirelessly to prevent such exclusion. Now, through our own actions, we risk achieving their goals,” Gellert said.
The Eurovision Song Contest is scheduled to take place in May 2025 in Basel, Switzerland, following the country’s victory in 2024 with Nemo’s song “The Code.”
US NGO believes missing journalist Austin Tice ‘alive’ in Syria
- Zakka showed an image he said indicated the locations where Tice had been held from November 2017 to February 2024.
DAMASCUS: US group Hostage Aid Worldwide said Tuesday that it believes journalist Austin Tice, who went missing in Syria in 2012, is still alive, though it did not offer concrete information on his whereabouts.
“We have data that Austin is alive till January 2024, but the president of the US said in August that he is alive, and we are sure that he is alive today,” Hostage Aid Worldwide’s Nizar Zakka said.
“We are trying to be as transparent as possible and to share as much information as possible.”
At a press conference in Damascus, Zakka showed an image he said indicated the locations where Tice had been held from November 2017 to February 2024.
Hostage Aid Worldwide says it is working with Tice’s family and the US authorities.
Tice, 43, was working for Agence France-Presse, McClatchy News, The Washington Post, CBS and other media outlets in Syria.
He went missing near Damascus in August 2012.
The authorities under ousted president Bashar Assad never said they had him in custody.
Tice’s mother Debra said earlier this month that she had information that her son was alive, while Syria’s new leadership said it was searching for him.
Hostage Aid Worldwide also said it believed senior cleric Yohanna Ibrahim, a Syrian-American dual citizen, had been held by Assad’s government.
The group did not elaborate on whether it believed Ibrahim was still alive.
“He is a US citizen,” Zakka said, adding that Ibrahim “was seen in 2018 in Branch 291” of the security forces.
The senior Aleppo cleric of the Syriac Orthodox Church was kidnapped in April 2013.
Assad’s government had claimed that Ibrahim was kidnapped by jihadists.
MIT Technology Review Arabia unveils 2024 ‘Innovators Under 35 MENA’ award winners
- Saudi Arabia saw significant recognition this year, with five of its innovators earning awards
- Innovators’ work range from groundbreaking genetic research to eco-friendly technologies and advanced health diagnostics
LONDON: MIT Technology Review Arabia has announced the 20 winners of its 2024 Innovators Under 35 MENA award, honoring young visionaries whose work spans fields such as biotechnology, artificial intelligence, energy and medicine.
This year’s honorees hail from across the region and beyond, including Saudi Arabia, Palestine, Egypt, Lebanon, Qatar, Bangladesh and Russia, and whose ideas have introduced innovations addressing some of the world’s most pressing challenges.
Their achievements range from groundbreaking genetic research to eco-friendly technologies and advanced health diagnostics.
Among this year’s winners is Saudi Arabia’s Asrar Damdam, whose UV-based device extends the shelf life of fresh food in only 30 seconds without chemicals, tackling global food waste.
Egypt’s Bassem Al-Shaib was recognized for his work with CRISPR (clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats) technology, offering new possibilities for genetic therapies and climate change mitigation.
Qatar’s Dhabia Al-Mohannadi has developed a process to convert oil wastewater into hydrogen, contributing to decarbonization efforts.
Saudi Arabia saw significant recognition this year, with five of its innovators earning awards.
These include Mohammed Alamer, whose sustainable graphene production methods are gaining attention, and Lamyaa Almemadi, whose research at MIT focuses on monitoring mRNA degradation in vaccines.
Taghreed Sindi was recognized for developing AI tools to improve children’s hospital care, while Maha AlJuhani introduced methods for designing catalysts that recycle nitrogen, supporting sustainability in industry.
The honorees were selected by a panel of 19 judges, including academics and entrepreneurs from leading institutions worldwide.
The award, which was launched in the MENA in 2018, is the regional version of a global awards scheme launched by MIT Technology Review in 1999.
Part of Arabic digital content provider Majarra, Innovators Under 35 awards have previously honored figures such as Google co-founder Larry Page, and Mark Zuckerberg, founder, chairman and CEO of Meta, formerly known as Facebook.
