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Olympic activist gets 5 years
24/03/2008 14:53 - (SA)
Beijing - In a case closely watched for signs China might ease the pressure on its critics ahead of the Olympics, a court on Monday handed down the maximum five years in prison to a human rights activist.
Authorities threw the book at Yang Chunlin, a former factory worker, on the same day that the Olympic flame was lit in Greece, beginning the countdown to an event China's communist rulers hope to use as a national showpiece.
The 52-year-old Yang was arrested last year after reportedly collecting more than 10 000 signatures on a petition entitled "We want human rights, not the Olympics".
"Both the family and us lawyers think it is a heavy sentence, as five years in prison is the highest sentence possible in this case," said Yang's lawyer Li Fangping.
No signs of leniency
An official at the court in Jiamusi city, in the northern province of Heilongjiang, confirmed the sentence but declined to give details or further comment.
The case against Yang, who has also battled Chinese authorities on behalf of farmers whose land was seized by the government, had been watched for any sign of leniency in the run-up to the Olympics in August.
Nicholas Bequelin, from Human Rights Watch, said the verdict showed China cared little for world opinion and wanted to send a clear signal that anyone who tarnished the country's image before the Games would suffer.
"What we have seen is a very systematic attempt to silence Chinese activists who wanted to use the focus of the Olympics to bring attention to their causes," he said.
Defiant
Yang has denied the charges and refused to sign the verdict, his sister, Yang Chunping said, indicating he remained defiant.
"We want my brother to appeal but he is not sure he wants to because he has no confidence in the judicial system of China," she said.
Li, the lawyer, told AFP that he hoped to meet with his client to discuss his next move.
Human Rights Watch had previously said Yang was denied due process and access to his lawyers.
A Beijing court is also imminently expected to announce a verdict on Hu Jia, a high-profile dissident who was arrested in December and went on trial last week on the same charges, according to his laywers.
The verdict on Yang comes just days after China launched a crackdown on protests in Tibet and heavily Tibetan areas, which Tibetan exiles say has left around 130 people dead.
Crackdown
China has blamed the Dalai Lama for the protests, which it says are aimed at undermining the August 8-24 Games in the Chinese capital Beijing.
The crackdown has drawn worldwide criticism but few serious calls for any boycott of the Olympics.
In Greece on Monday a ceremony for the lighting of the Olympic torch, which had Chinese officials on hand, was briefly disrupted by three protesters. One unfurled a flag declaring: "Boycott the country that tramples on human rights".
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