# Incidents: secrets and espionage laws, stage: eliminate

Each incident is a dated action by a government, an official, a regulator, a court or a legislature that limited journalists' ability to gather or publish news.

The number of entries reflects the depth of this record, not the severity of a country's conduct.

Filters: country, continent, tactic, stage, from, to, level, actor, leader, outlet, outcome, source_kind, has_case, plus q, sort (date, date_asc, country, tactic, relevance), per_page (up to 100), page and view (table or cards), as query parameters.

8 incidents match this view.

| Date | Incident | Country | Tactic | Head of government | Outcome |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 15 December 2025 | [China (Hong Kong): conviction and 20-year sentence of the media owner Jimmy Lai under the National Security Law, 2025 to 2026](https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2025-hong-kong-convicts-jimmy-lai-under-national-security-law) | [Hong Kong](https://thewaronnews.com/countries/hk) ([RSF 2026 rank: 140th of 180](https://rsf.org/en/index)) | [Detention and violence](https://thewaronnews.com/tactics/detention_and_violence) | [John Lee](https://thewaronnews.com/leaders/john-lee) | Sustained (8 February 2026) |
| November 2024 | [China: editor Dong Yuyu is sentenced to seven years for espionage over meals with a diplomat](https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2024-china-dong-yuyu-espionage-sentence) | [China](https://thewaronnews.com/countries/cn) ([RSF 2026 rank: 178th of 180](https://rsf.org/en/index)) | [Secrets and espionage laws](https://thewaronnews.com/tactics/secrets_and_espionage_laws) | [Xi Jinping](https://thewaronnews.com/leaders/xi-jinping) | Ongoing (1 November 2024) |
| 17 January 2024 | [Iran: journalists Niloofar Hamedi and Elahe Mohammadi are sentenced to 13 and 12 years](https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2024-iran-hamedi-mohammadi-sentenced) | [Iran](https://thewaronnews.com/countries/ir) ([RSF 2026 rank: 177th of 180](https://rsf.org/en/index)) | [Secrets and espionage laws](https://thewaronnews.com/tactics/secrets_and_espionage_laws) | [Ebrahim Raisi](https://thewaronnews.com/leaders/ebrahim-raisi) | Ongoing (17 January 2024) |
| 5 September 2022 | [Russia: journalist Ivan Safronov is sentenced to 22 years for treason](https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2022-russia-safronov-treason-sentence) | [Russia](https://thewaronnews.com/countries/ru) ([RSF 2026 rank: 172nd of 180](https://rsf.org/en/index)) | [Secrets and espionage laws](https://thewaronnews.com/tactics/secrets_and_espionage_laws) | [Vladimir Putin](https://thewaronnews.com/leaders/vladimir-putin) | Ongoing (5 September 2022) |
| 14 December 2021 | [Vietnam: journalist Pham Doan Trang is sentenced to nine years for anti-state "propaganda"](https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2021-vietnam-pham-doan-trang-nine-year-sentence) | [Viet Nam](https://thewaronnews.com/countries/vn) (RSF rank: not recorded) | [Secrets and espionage laws](https://thewaronnews.com/tactics/secrets_and_espionage_laws) | [Nguyen Xuan Phuc](https://thewaronnews.com/leaders/nguyen-xuan-phuc) | Sustained (14 December 2021) |
| 3 September 2018 | [Myanmar sentences two Reuters journalists to seven years under the Official Secrets Act for reporting on a massacre](https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2018-myanmar-reuters-journalists-official-secrets-act) | [Myanmar](https://thewaronnews.com/countries/mm) ([RSF 2026 rank: 166th of 180](https://rsf.org/en/index)) | [Secrets and espionage laws](https://thewaronnews.com/tactics/secrets_and_espionage_laws) | [Aung San Suu Kyi](https://thewaronnews.com/leaders/aung-san-suu-kyi) | Reversed (7 May 2019) |
| 8 June 2009 | [North Korea: American journalists Laura Ling and Euna Lee are sentenced to hard labor](https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2009-north-korea-ling-lee-sentenced) | [North Korea](https://thewaronnews.com/countries/kp) (RSF rank: not recorded) | [Secrets and espionage laws](https://thewaronnews.com/tactics/secrets_and_espionage_laws) | [Kim Jong Il](https://thewaronnews.com/leaders/kim-jong-il) | Reversed (4 August 2009) |
| July 1995 | [Nigeria's military government convicts journalists by special tribunal over coup-plot reporting](https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/1995-nigeria-abacha-journalists-tribunal) | [Nigeria](https://thewaronnews.com/countries/ng) ([RSF 2026 rank: 112th of 180](https://rsf.org/en/index)) | [Detention and violence](https://thewaronnews.com/tactics/detention_and_violence) | [Sani Abacha](https://thewaronnews.com/leaders/sani-abacha) | Reversed (15 June 1998) |

Download this view. CSV, JSON or Markdown. CC BY 4.0; credit "The War On News, thewaronnews.com".
- CSV: https://thewaronnews.com/incidents?tactic=secrets_and_espionage_laws&stage=eliminate&format=csv
- JSON: https://thewaronnews.com/incidents.json?tactic=secrets_and_espionage_laws&stage=eliminate
- Markdown: https://thewaronnews.com/incidents.md?tactic=secrets_and_espionage_laws&stage=eliminate

- Incidents (RSS): https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/feed.xml
- Incidents (Atom): https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/atom.xml
- Incidents (JSON Feed): https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/feed.json
- All incidents (CSV): https://thewaronnews.com/incidents.csv

Source page: https://thewaronnews.com/incidents?tactic=secrets_and_espionage_laws&stage=eliminate. The War On News, CC BY 4.0.