{ "title": "Ladder: secrets and espionage laws, in Asia", "canonical_url": "https://thewaronnews.com/ladders/secrets_and_espionage_laws?continent=asia", "filters": { "continent": "asia" }, "counts_caveat": "The number of entries reflects the depth of this record, not the severity of a country's conduct.", "tactic": { "slug": "secrets_and_espionage_laws", "name": "Secrets and espionage laws", "definition": "Laws that make it a crime to obtain, keep or disclose information a government has classified as secret, such as the Espionage Act, a 1917 United States law against disclosing defence information, or the Official Secrets Acts of the United Kingdom. Governments use them to prosecute journalists or, more often, the officials who gave journalists information.", "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/tactics/secrets_and_espionage_laws" }, "focal_case": "US", "count": 7, "stages": [ { "stage": "silence", "name": "Silence", "definition": "Removing outlets or channels from the public sphere: closures, licence withdrawals, forced sales, blocking and shutdowns, prior restraint, nationalisation.", "rungs": [ { "slug": "1926-dutch-east-indies-mawa-article-153bis", "title": "Dutch East Indies: Colonial authorities end publication of the communist newspaper Mawa under Penal Code Article 153 bis, 1926", "occurred_on": "1926-01-01", "occurred_on_precision": "year", "stage": "silence", "focal_case": false, "country": "ID", "country_name": "Indonesia", "continent": "asia", "rsf": null, "leader_slug": "andries-de-graeff", "leader_name": "Andries Cornelis Dirk de Graeff", "what_was_done": "In 1926, colonial authorities in the Dutch East Indies ended publication of Mawa, a newspaper linked to the Communist Association of the Indies in Soerakarta, through repeated use of Article 153 bis of the colonial Penal Code, which criminalized advocating the overthrow of the government.", "outcome": "sustained", "outcome_on": "1926-01-01", "outcome_note": "Mawa did not resume publishing, and the colonial government's restrictions on communist-linked newspapers continued after the 1926 uprising.", "ladder_note": null, "sources_count": 2, "tactic_primary": "outlet_licensing", "tactics": [ "outlet_licensing", "secrets_and_espionage_laws" ], "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/1926-dutch-east-indies-mawa-article-153bis" } ] }, { "stage": "eliminate", "name": "Eliminate", "definition": "Long imprisonment, killing, disappearance or forced exile of journalists, with state involvement as the sources state it.", "rungs": [ { "slug": "2009-north-korea-ling-lee-sentenced", "title": "North Korea: American journalists Laura Ling and Euna Lee are sentenced to hard labor", "occurred_on": "2009-06-08", "occurred_on_precision": "day", "stage": "eliminate", "focal_case": false, "country": "KP", "country_name": "North Korea", "continent": "asia", "rsf": null, "leader_slug": "kim-jong-il", "leader_name": "Kim Jong Il", "what_was_done": "A North Korean court sentenced Current TV journalists Laura Ling and Euna Lee to twenty years of \"reform through hard labor\" after their arrest for crossing the border from China without authorization, and both were released months later following a visit by former President Bill Clinton.", "outcome": "reversed", "outcome_on": "2009-08-04", "outcome_note": "North Korean leader Kim Jong Il pardoned Ling and Lee after former President Bill Clinton traveled to Pyongyang to secure their release.", "ladder_note": "Two foreign journalists received a twenty-year hard-labor sentence for a border charge, resolved only by a former head of state's personal visit to the country's leader.", "sources_count": 3, "tactic_primary": "secrets_and_espionage_laws", "tactics": [ "secrets_and_espionage_laws" ], "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2009-north-korea-ling-lee-sentenced" }, { "slug": "2018-myanmar-reuters-journalists-official-secrets-act", "title": "Myanmar sentences two Reuters journalists to seven years under the Official Secrets Act for reporting on a massacre", "occurred_on": "2018-09-03", "occurred_on_precision": "day", "stage": "eliminate", "focal_case": false, "country": "MM", "country_name": "Myanmar", "continent": "asia", "rsf": { "index": "RSF World Press Freedom Index", "year": 2026, "rank": 166, "of": 180, "label": "RSF 2026 rank: 166th of 180", "source_url": "https://rsf.org/en/index" }, "leader_slug": "aung-san-suu-kyi", "leader_name": "Aung San Suu Kyi", "what_was_done": "A Myanmar court sentenced Reuters reporters Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo to seven years under the colonial-era Official Secrets Act after police handed them classified documents at a dinner shortly before their arrest, while they were investigating the killing of Rohingya Muslim villagers.", "outcome": "reversed", "outcome_on": "2019-05-07", "outcome_note": "President Win Myint pardoned and released Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo on May 7, 2019, after 511 days in prison, as part of a mass amnesty.", "ladder_note": "Both reporters were pardoned in May 2019 after 511 days in prison.", "sources_count": 2, "tactic_primary": "secrets_and_espionage_laws", "tactics": [ "detention_and_violence", "secrets_and_espionage_laws" ], "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2018-myanmar-reuters-journalists-official-secrets-act" }, { "slug": "2021-vietnam-pham-doan-trang-nine-year-sentence", "title": "Vietnam: journalist Pham Doan Trang is sentenced to nine years for anti-state \"propaganda\"", "occurred_on": "2021-12-14", "occurred_on_precision": "day", "stage": "eliminate", "focal_case": false, "country": "VN", "country_name": "Viet Nam", "continent": "asia", "rsf": null, "leader_slug": "nguyen-xuan-phuc", "leader_name": "Nguyen Xuan Phuc", "what_was_done": "A Vietnamese court sentenced Pham Doan Trang, founding editor of the independent outlet The Vietnamese, to nine years in prison for distributing anti-state \"propaganda\" under a national-security provision of the country's penal code.", "outcome": "sustained", "outcome_on": "2021-12-14", "outcome_note": "Trang's nine-year sentence stood as of the source reviewed, with no release reported in it.", "ladder_note": "An independent editor received a nine-year sentence under a national-security speech law for her journalism, not a licensing or credential dispute.", "sources_count": 2, "tactic_primary": "secrets_and_espionage_laws", "tactics": [ "secrets_and_espionage_laws" ], "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2021-vietnam-pham-doan-trang-nine-year-sentence" }, { "slug": "2024-iran-hamedi-mohammadi-sentenced", "title": "Iran: journalists Niloofar Hamedi and Elahe Mohammadi are sentenced to 13 and 12 years", "occurred_on": "2024-01-17", "occurred_on_precision": "day", "stage": "eliminate", "focal_case": false, "country": "IR", "country_name": "Iran", "continent": "asia", "rsf": { "index": "RSF World Press Freedom Index", "year": 2026, "rank": 177, "of": 180, "label": "RSF 2026 rank: 177th of 180", "source_url": "https://rsf.org/en/index" }, "leader_slug": "ebrahim-raisi", "leader_name": "Ebrahim Raisi", "what_was_done": "Iranian journalists Niloofar Hamedi and Elahe Mohammadi, who broke the story of Mahsa Amini's death in police custody, were sentenced to 13 and 12 years respectively on national-security-linked charges tied to their reporting, and later released on heavy bail.", "outcome": "ongoing", "outcome_on": "2024-01-17", "outcome_note": "The two journalists were released on bail of about 200,000 dollars in January 2024 but remained banned from leaving the country.", "ladder_note": "Two journalists received sentences of 12 and 13 years for reporting a death in state custody, far beyond a license, credential or access restriction.", "sources_count": 3, "tactic_primary": "secrets_and_espionage_laws", "tactics": [ "secrets_and_espionage_laws" ], "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2024-iran-hamedi-mohammadi-sentenced" }, { "slug": "2024-china-dong-yuyu-espionage-sentence", "title": "China: editor Dong Yuyu is sentenced to seven years for espionage over meals with a diplomat", "occurred_on": "2024-11-01", "occurred_on_precision": "month", "stage": "eliminate", "focal_case": false, "country": "CN", "country_name": "China", "continent": "asia", "rsf": { "index": "RSF World Press Freedom Index", "year": 2026, "rank": 178, "of": 180, "label": "RSF 2026 rank: 178th of 180", "source_url": "https://rsf.org/en/index" }, "leader_slug": "xi-jinping", "leader_name": "Xi Jinping", "what_was_done": "A Chinese court sentenced Guangming Daily editor and columnist Dong Yuyu to seven years in prison for espionage after his 2022 arrest while having lunch with a Japanese diplomat, a case his son called purely political.", "outcome": "ongoing", "outcome_on": "2024-11-01", "outcome_note": "Dong's appeal remained pending before the Beijing High Court as of the September 2025 report reviewed, with its deadline repeatedly extended.", "ladder_note": "A veteran editor received a seven-year espionage sentence for meeting a foreign diplomat over lunch, a routine journalistic contact rather than any published disclosure.", "sources_count": 3, "tactic_primary": "secrets_and_espionage_laws", "tactics": [ "secrets_and_espionage_laws" ], "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2024-china-dong-yuyu-espionage-sentence" }, { "slug": "2025-hong-kong-convicts-jimmy-lai-under-national-security-law", "title": "China (Hong Kong): conviction and 20-year sentence of the media owner Jimmy Lai under the National Security Law, 2025 to 2026", "occurred_on": "2025-12-15", "occurred_on_precision": "day", "stage": "eliminate", "focal_case": false, "country": "HK", "country_name": "Hong Kong", "continent": "asia", "rsf": { "index": "RSF World Press Freedom Index", "year": 2026, "rank": 140, "of": 180, "label": "RSF 2026 rank: 140th of 180", "source_url": "https://rsf.org/en/index" }, "leader_slug": "john-lee", "leader_name": "John Lee", "what_was_done": "On December 15, 2025, the High Court of Hong Kong, a special administrative region of China with its own courts, convicted Jimmy Lai, founder of the newspaper Apple Daily, on two counts of \"conspiracy to commit collusion with foreign forces\" under the National Security Law, which China's central go…", "outcome": "sustained", "outcome_on": "2026-02-08", "outcome_note": "Sentenced to 20 years in prison on 2026-02-08; no appeal is recorded in the sources cited.", "ladder_note": null, "sources_count": 5, "tactic_primary": "detention_and_violence", "tactics": [ "detention_and_violence", "outlet_licensing", "secrets_and_espionage_laws" ], "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2025-hong-kong-convicts-jimmy-lai-under-national-security-law" } ] } ], "downloads": { "csv": "https://thewaronnews.com/ladders/secrets_and_espionage_laws?continent=asia&format=csv", "json": "https://thewaronnews.com/ladders/secrets_and_espionage_laws.json?continent=asia", "md": "https://thewaronnews.com/ladders/secrets_and_espionage_laws.md?continent=asia" }, "license": { "name": "CC BY 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/" } }