{
  "title": "Search: secrets and espionage laws, from 2020",
  "canonical_url": "https://thewaronnews.com/search?tactic=secrets_and_espionage_laws&from=2020",
  "filters": {
    "tactic": "secrets_and_espionage_laws",
    "from": "2020"
  },
  "sort": "date",
  "count": 6,
  "page": 1,
  "pages": 1,
  "per_page": 50,
  "counts_caveat": "The number of entries reflects the depth of this record, not the severity of a country's conduct.",
  "facets": {
    "country": [
      {
        "value": "CN",
        "label": "China",
        "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"
        }
      },
      {
        "value": "HK",
        "label": "Hong Kong",
        "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"
        }
      },
      {
        "value": "IR",
        "label": "Iran",
        "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"
        }
      },
      {
        "value": "RU",
        "label": "Russia",
        "rsf": {
          "index": "RSF World Press Freedom Index",
          "year": 2026,
          "rank": 172,
          "of": 180,
          "label": "RSF 2026 rank: 172nd of 180",
          "source_url": "https://rsf.org/en/index"
        }
      },
      {
        "value": "VN",
        "label": "Viet Nam",
        "rsf": null
      },
      {
        "value": "ZW",
        "label": "Zimbabwe",
        "rsf": {
          "index": "RSF World Press Freedom Index",
          "year": 2026,
          "rank": 124,
          "of": 180,
          "label": "RSF 2026 rank: 124th of 180",
          "source_url": "https://rsf.org/en/index"
        }
      }
    ],
    "continent": [
      {
        "value": "africa",
        "label": "Africa"
      },
      {
        "value": "asia",
        "label": "Asia"
      },
      {
        "value": "europe",
        "label": "Europe"
      }
    ],
    "tactic": [
      {
        "value": "secrets_and_espionage_laws",
        "label": "Secrets and espionage laws",
        "count": 6
      },
      {
        "value": "detention_and_violence",
        "label": "Detention and violence",
        "count": 1
      },
      {
        "value": "outlet_licensing",
        "label": "Licensing and closure of outlets",
        "count": 1
      },
      {
        "value": "insult_and_defamation_laws",
        "label": "Insult and defamation laws",
        "count": 1
      }
    ],
    "stage": [
      {
        "value": "punish",
        "label": "Punish",
        "count": 1
      },
      {
        "value": "eliminate",
        "label": "Eliminate",
        "count": 5
      }
    ],
    "level": [
      {
        "value": "national",
        "label": "National",
        "count": 5
      },
      {
        "value": "state_or_province",
        "label": "State or province",
        "count": 1
      }
    ],
    "outcome": [
      {
        "value": "sustained",
        "label": "Sustained",
        "count": 3
      },
      {
        "value": "ongoing",
        "label": "Ongoing",
        "count": 3
      }
    ],
    "leader": [
      {
        "value": "ebrahim-raisi",
        "label": "Ebrahim Raisi"
      },
      {
        "value": "emmerson-mnangagwa",
        "label": "Emmerson Mnangagwa"
      },
      {
        "value": "john-lee",
        "label": "John Lee"
      },
      {
        "value": "nguyen-xuan-phuc",
        "label": "Nguyen Xuan Phuc"
      },
      {
        "value": "vladimir-putin",
        "label": "Vladimir Putin"
      },
      {
        "value": "xi-jinping",
        "label": "Xi Jinping"
      }
    ],
    "era": [
      {
        "value": "2020s",
        "label": "2020s",
        "count": 6
      }
    ],
    "year": [
      {
        "value": "2021",
        "label": "2021",
        "count": 1
      },
      {
        "value": "2022",
        "label": "2022",
        "count": 1
      },
      {
        "value": "2023",
        "label": "2023",
        "count": 1
      },
      {
        "value": "2024",
        "label": "2024",
        "count": 2
      },
      {
        "value": "2025",
        "label": "2025",
        "count": 1
      }
    ],
    "has_case": [
      {
        "value": "0",
        "label": "without a court case",
        "count": 6
      }
    ]
  },
  "results": [
    {
      "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",
      "country": "HK",
      "country_name": "Hong Kong",
      "continent": "asia",
      "jurisdiction": "HK",
      "level": "state_or_province",
      "tactic_primary": "detention_and_violence",
      "tactics": [
        "detention_and_violence",
        "outlet_licensing",
        "secrets_and_espionage_laws"
      ],
      "leader_slug": "john-lee",
      "leader_name": "John Lee",
      "issue_of_the_day": null,
      "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.",
      "stage": "eliminate",
      "ladder_note": null,
      "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"
      },
      "era": "2020s",
      "granularity": "granular",
      "status": "in_effect",
      "case_count": 0,
      "summary": "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 government imposed on Hong Kong in 2020, and one count of \"conspiracy to publish seditious publications.\" On February 8, 2026, the court sentenced Lai to 20 years in prison. Apple Daily shut down in June 2021 after its accounts were frozen and much of its top leadership was arrested. Human Rights Watch, an international human rights organization, called the charges \"bogus.\"",
      "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2025-hong-kong-convicts-jimmy-lai-under-national-security-law"
    },
    {
      "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",
      "country": "CN",
      "country_name": "China",
      "continent": "asia",
      "jurisdiction": "CN",
      "level": "national",
      "tactic_primary": "secrets_and_espionage_laws",
      "tactics": [
        "secrets_and_espionage_laws"
      ],
      "leader_slug": "xi-jinping",
      "leader_name": "Xi Jinping",
      "issue_of_the_day": "Dong had worked at Guangming Daily, a state-run Chinese newspaper, since 1987 and was known for commentary that engaged with foreign diplomats and officials as part of his beat.",
      "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.",
      "stage": "eliminate",
      "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.",
      "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"
      },
      "era": "2020s",
      "granularity": "granular",
      "status": "in_effect",
      "case_count": 0,
      "summary": "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.",
      "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2024-china-dong-yuyu-espionage-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",
      "country": "IR",
      "country_name": "Iran",
      "continent": "asia",
      "jurisdiction": "IR",
      "level": "national",
      "tactic_primary": "secrets_and_espionage_laws",
      "tactics": [
        "secrets_and_espionage_laws"
      ],
      "leader_slug": "ebrahim-raisi",
      "leader_name": "Ebrahim Raisi",
      "issue_of_the_day": "Hamedi and Mohammadi had reported on the September 2022 death of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old woman who died after being held by Iran's morality police for allegedly violating the country's mandatory dress code, reporting that helped ignite months of nationwide protests.",
      "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.",
      "stage": "eliminate",
      "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.",
      "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"
      },
      "era": "2020s",
      "granularity": "granular",
      "status": "in_effect",
      "case_count": 0,
      "summary": "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.",
      "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2024-iran-hamedi-mohammadi-sentenced"
    },
    {
      "slug": "2023-zimbabwe-patriotic-act-criminalizes-foreign-contact",
      "title": "Zimbabwe's Patriotic Act criminalizes journalists' contact with foreign governments",
      "occurred_on": "2023-07-14",
      "occurred_on_precision": "day",
      "country": "ZW",
      "country_name": "Zimbabwe",
      "continent": "africa",
      "jurisdiction": "ZW",
      "level": "national",
      "tactic_primary": "secrets_and_espionage_laws",
      "tactics": [
        "insult_and_defamation_laws",
        "secrets_and_espionage_laws"
      ],
      "leader_slug": "emmerson-mnangagwa",
      "leader_name": "Emmerson Mnangagwa",
      "issue_of_the_day": "The bill passed weeks before Zimbabwe's August 2023 general election, at a time when the government accused foreign-linked civil-society and media figures of working to undermine it ahead of the vote.",
      "outcome": "sustained",
      "outcome_on": "2023-07-14",
      "outcome_note": "President Mnangagwa signed the bill into law despite CPJ's call for a veto; a court challenge by journalists did not block it.",
      "stage": "punish",
      "ladder_note": null,
      "rsf": {
        "index": "RSF World Press Freedom Index",
        "year": 2026,
        "rank": 124,
        "of": 180,
        "label": "RSF 2026 rank: 124th of 180",
        "source_url": "https://rsf.org/en/index"
      },
      "era": "2020s",
      "granularity": "granular",
      "status": "in_effect",
      "case_count": 0,
      "summary": "President Emmerson Mnangagwa signed the Patriotic Act, which criminalizes meeting foreign governments or officials with intent to harm Zimbabwe's sovereignty, with penalties up to death for advocating armed intervention and up to ten years for supporting sanctions, weeks before the country's 2023 general election.",
      "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2023-zimbabwe-patriotic-act-criminalizes-foreign-contact"
    },
    {
      "slug": "2022-russia-safronov-treason-sentence",
      "title": "Russia: journalist Ivan Safronov is sentenced to 22 years for treason",
      "occurred_on": "2022-09-05",
      "occurred_on_precision": "day",
      "country": "RU",
      "country_name": "Russia",
      "continent": "europe",
      "jurisdiction": "RU",
      "level": "national",
      "tactic_primary": "secrets_and_espionage_laws",
      "tactics": [
        "secrets_and_espionage_laws"
      ],
      "leader_slug": "vladimir-putin",
      "leader_name": "Vladimir Putin",
      "issue_of_the_day": "Safronov had reported for the newspapers Kommersant and Vedomosti on Russian military affairs, including 2019 coverage of a planned sale of fighter jets to Egypt, before taking a communications role at Russia's space agency.",
      "outcome": "ongoing",
      "outcome_on": "2022-09-05",
      "outcome_note": "Safronov received a 22-year sentence and planned to appeal; the source reviewed does not report a ruling on any appeal.",
      "stage": "eliminate",
      "ladder_note": "A journalist received a 22-year sentence for treason in a case linked to his own earlier reporting, far longer than any credential, licensing or fine-based restriction.",
      "rsf": {
        "index": "RSF World Press Freedom Index",
        "year": 2026,
        "rank": 172,
        "of": 180,
        "label": "RSF 2026 rank: 172nd of 180",
        "source_url": "https://rsf.org/en/index"
      },
      "era": "2020s",
      "granularity": "granular",
      "status": "in_effect",
      "case_count": 0,
      "summary": "A Russian court sentenced military correspondent Ivan Safronov to 22 years in prison for treason, accusing him of spying for a foreign state, in a case his supporters linked to his 2019 reporting on Russian arms sales to Egypt.",
      "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2022-russia-safronov-treason-sentence"
    },
    {
      "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",
      "country": "VN",
      "country_name": "Viet Nam",
      "continent": "asia",
      "jurisdiction": "VN",
      "level": "national",
      "tactic_primary": "secrets_and_espionage_laws",
      "tactics": [
        "secrets_and_espionage_laws"
      ],
      "leader_slug": "nguyen-xuan-phuc",
      "leader_name": "Nguyen Xuan Phuc",
      "issue_of_the_day": "Trang had spent years writing and publishing independent reporting and commentary critical of the ruling Communist Party before her arrest, work for which she had already received international press freedom recognition.",
      "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.",
      "stage": "eliminate",
      "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.",
      "rsf": null,
      "era": "2020s",
      "granularity": "granular",
      "status": "in_effect",
      "case_count": 0,
      "summary": "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.",
      "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2021-vietnam-pham-doan-trang-nine-year-sentence"
    }
  ],
  "other_results": [],
  "downloads": {
    "csv": "https://thewaronnews.com/search?tactic=secrets_and_espionage_laws&from=2020&format=csv",
    "json": "https://thewaronnews.com/search.json?tactic=secrets_and_espionage_laws&from=2020",
    "md": "https://thewaronnews.com/search.md?tactic=secrets_and_espionage_laws&from=2020"
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  "license": {
    "name": "CC BY 4.0",
    "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"
  }
}