article_snippet.sent: Intermediate People's Court has jailed a 71-year-old journalist for seven years for leaking a government document warning against the 'dangers' of a free press.
article_snippet.sent: Gao is 'the victim of vaguely worded and arbitrary state-secret laws that are used against activists as part of the authorities' attack on freedom of expression,' said William Nee, a researcher for Britain-based Amnesty International.
article_snippet.sent: Known for her outspoken support for democracy and press freedom, Gao went missing last April and resurfaced on China's state broadcaster a month later admitting her had made a 'mistake'.
article_snippet.sent: A consistent advocate for democracy and free speech, Gao was imprisoned following the government crackdown on student protests in Tiananmen Square in 1989.
article_snippet.sent: Gao political writings saw Gao jailed for six years in the 1990s, also on a charge of 'leaking state secrets'.
article_snippet.sent: Gao was detained again in the lead-up to the Tiananmen crackdown's 25th anniversary last year, as were dozens of other government critics, and Gao one-day trial was conducted in secret.
article_snippet.sent: Gao was imprisoned after the government crackdown which followed .
article_snippet.sent: Gao Yu is one of a number of prominent Chinese dissidents who have been detained, exiled or kept under house arrest in recent years .
article_snippet.sent: The US said last year it was 'deeply concerned' by the criminal proceedings against Gao.
article_snippet.sent: Gao arrest 'was part of an effort to intimidate and silence journalists and activists' ahead of the Tiananmen anniversary, the US chapter of free speech group PEN International said in a statement.
highlights_snippet.sent: Gao appear on Chinese state broadcaster last May admitting to a 'mistake' 