Australian writer Yang Hengjun too ill to appeal China death sentence, says family

Feb. 21 (UPI) -- An Australian writer on death row in China will not appeal his suspended death sentence for spying as he has no faith in the country's judicial system and is too unwell to fight on, his family said Wednesday.

Yang Hengjun's family said in a statement that despite a total lack of evidence against the 57-year-old, pursuing an appeal would be "detrimental to his welfare," because the odds of success made it pointless and would further delay him receiving badly needed medical treatment.

"There are no grounds to believe that the system that enabled Yang's sustained torture and fabricated the charges against him is capable of remedying the injustice of his sentence," his family said.

"Second, commencing an appeal would only delay the possibility of adequate and supervised medical care, after five years of inhumane treatment and abject medical neglect."

Under Chinese law, Yang's sentence, handed down earlier this month, can be commuted to life in prison after two years of good behavior and the move to abandon the fight frees up Yang's lawyers and Australian officials to push for him to be released on medical parole.

Yang is expected to be moved from a detention center in Beijing, where he has been held since being arrested at Guangzhou airport in 2019, to the prison system where it is thought he will be able to get medical treatment, visits and reading material.

The decision will also heighten public demands on Canberra to ramp up its efforts to secure Yang's release.

Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong called the decision to drop Yang's appeal "understandable" but pledged to keep pressing Beijing on his behalf.

"The Australian government has advocated for Dr. Yang with China at every opportunity, and at the highest levels and we will continue to do so," the minister said.

"We will continue to press for Dr. Yang's interests and well-being, and provide consular assistance to him," said Wong.

Following Yang's Feb. 5 sentencing, China's Foreign Ministry insisted his trial was held "in strict accordance with the law and ensured that he fully exercised his procedural rights."

The pro-democracy blogger and writer worked in counterintelligence at China's Ministry of State Security prior to moving to Australia and becoming a citizen in 2002. He is married with two children.