Wrongfully jailed for spilling secrets, journalist warns 'dig deeper' on China
Finally free after 1,154 days in a Chinese prison, wrongfully accused of spilling state secrets, Australian journalist Cheng Lei was overjoyed to see her children again. But back home freedom brought its own challenges.
Journalist Cheng Lei was wrongfully imprisoned for 1,154 days in China for allegedly supplying state secrets overseas. She describes her experience of being held in Residential Surveillance at a Designated Location (RSDL), a form of torture where she was constantly watched and denied basic human comforts. Lei's imprisonment had a profound impact on her relationship with her children, Ava and Alex, who were aged 11 and 9 at the time of her arrest.
She feels immense anguish about the time they were taken away when they needed her most. After her release in October 2023, Lei hopes to dive deeper into investigating the events that led to her wrongful imprisonment by exploring the circumstances surrounding the COVID-related allegations that led to her detention.
Written by urgent.news from ABC News AU's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
