By not appealing, Yang will be transferred to the prison system, where he will likely receive medical care, family visits and books. The decision will also put further pressure on the Australian government to step up its diplomatic response and secure his release now that appeals have been exhausted. Yang's suspended death sentence could be commuted to life imprisonment after two years of good behavior.
Australia's ambassador to China, Graham Fletcher, was denied access to the closed court throughout Yang's trial. credit: AP
Foreign Minister Penny Wong said she respected the difficult decision made by the former University of Technology academic.
“We will continue to press for Dr. Yang's interests and well-being, and will provide him with consular assistance,” she added.
In 2021, China released two Canadians imprisoned on national security charges – Michael Spavor and Michael Kovrig – on health grounds. Spavor was previously sentenced to 11 years in prison, while Kovrig was not sentenced publicly. They were released at the same time that Canadian authorities allowed Huawei CEO Meng Wanzhou to return to China. But unlike Yang, neither Kovring nor Spavor had a Chinese heritage or a long catalog of sustained public criticism of the Chinese government.
Yang's family and supporters said in the statement that his decision to forego the appeals process in no way changes “the fact that he is innocent and morally unbreakable.”
“Yang Hengjun is an Australian political prisoner sentenced to death for his writings in support of individual freedoms, constitutional democracy and the rule of law,” the statement read.
“The suspended death sentence imposed on Yang Hengjun by the No. 2 Intermediate Court is political persecution. If Yang were dealing with the rule of law system, there would be many avenues of appeal – starting with the fact that the accusations against him are baseless.
Yang's family has not yet received the written ruling for the suspended death sentence, more than two weeks after the ruling was issued. The court's decision is likely to remain confidential under national security laws that could prevent judges, courts and lawyers from revealing the reasons for the harshest sentence ever imposed on a foreign national on espionage charges.
Yang's family said: “The accusations made against him by the Beijing Municipal State Security Bureau are so false that they have never been revealed publicly, let alone properly tested and questioned in court.”
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They praised his lawyers Mo Shaoping and Zhang Baojun for spending the past five years defending his case despite facing difficulties that lawyers in Australia cannot imagine.
“They used every inch of space available to defend Yang's innocence and demonstrate their shared commitment to the principles of justice.”
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