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China jails former Reuters journalist Peter Humphrey

British corporate investigator Peter Humphrey, a Reuters correspondent in the 1980s and 1990s, was sentenced in Shanghai to two years and six months in prison for illegally obtaining records on Chinese citizens. He will be deported.

His American wife​ Yu Yingzeng was jailed for two years. Humphrey was also fined 200,000 yuan. His wife was fined 150,000 yuan.

The couple ran a risk consultancy called ChinaWhys. Its clients included British drug maker GlaxoSmithKline, which is at the centre of a separate corruption investigation.

Humphrey, 58, had previously apologised on state television for breaking any Chinese law.​

According to a statement read out by a court official at a press conference, Humphrey will be deported, but it gave no further details on that aspect of the judgment, or whether Yu would also be deported. They have already been held in detention for more than a year.​​

They have the right to appeal within 10 days.

The trial was watched​ closely for any comments on GSK but there was no mention of the firm, even though prosecutors brought up investigations launched by other foreign firms. ■

SOURCE
Reuters