Veteran human rights campaigner Chen Wei was found guilty of "inciting subversion of state power" on Friday after a two hour trial. His lawyer Zheng Jianwei said after the verdict Mr Chen warned the court: "Dictatorship will fail, democracy will prevail."
Mr Chen was one of more than 130 dissidents rounded up by nervous security officials after online calls in February for a so-called Jasmine revolution in China to mirror the Arab Spring uprisings.
Mr Chen's wife Wang Xiaoyan, who was in court, said her husband and other dissidents would not be broken by the severity of the punishment – a jail term designed to scare and intimate those who continue to dare speak out against Beijing's Communist leadership.
"His behaviour will be tested by history," she posted on China's version of Twitter, Weibo, shortly after the trial.
"They don't allow people to speak. There is no freedom of speech," she said.
Mr Chen was convicted for penning four topical think pieces for foreign websites.
His writings criticised the government and championed a civil society.
He insisted he was merely expressing his opinions as allowed under the Chinese constitution.
But the judges in the central western city of Suining also deprived him of his political rights for two years.
The behind-closed-doors hearing has been described as a "performance" show trial as it took the court just 30 minutes after the charges and evidence were heard to decide his sentence.
Ms Wang said her husband will not appeal the jail term because there "is no point".
Mr Chen was jailed previously for taking part in 1989 Tiananmen Square pro-democracy protest which was brutally crushed by the government which sent in the army, including tanks.
He is also signed a manifesto for democratic reform, Charter 08, co-written by the jailed Nobel Peace Prize winner Liu Xiaobo, who is serving an 11-year prison term.
Earlier this week the EU delegation to China cancelled a second round of its annual EU-China dialogue on human rights because the Chinese side refused to co-operate, EU officials said.
Mr Chen was convicted for penning four topical think pieces for foreign websites.
His writings criticised the government and championed a civil society.
He insisted he was merely expressing his opinions as allowed under the Chinese constitution.
But the judges in the central western city of Suining also deprived him of his political rights for two years.
The behind-closed-doors hearing has been described as a "performance" show trial as it took the court just 30 minutes after the charges and evidence were heard to decide his sentence.
Ms Wang said her husband will not appeal the jail term because there "is no point".
Mr Chen was jailed previously for taking part in 1989 Tiananmen Square pro-democracy protest which was brutally crushed by the government which sent in the army, including tanks.
He is also signed a manifesto for democratic reform, Charter 08, co-written by the jailed Nobel Peace Prize winner Liu Xiaobo, who is serving an 11-year prison term.
Earlier this week the EU delegation to China cancelled a second round of its annual EU-China dialogue on human rights because the Chinese side refused to co-operate, EU officials said.
Original Article
Source: Telegraph
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