A Chinese dissident was jailed on Friday for 10 years over an essay he posted on the internet, a United States-based rights body said, as China continued its crackdown on people who express anti-government views.
Ren Zhiyuan, based in east China’s Shandong province, was sentenced by the Jining City Intermediate Court for ”subverting state sovereignty,” New York-based Human Rights in China said.
Ren, a secondary school teacher, was arrested in May last year, it said.
Prosecutors accused him of posting an essay entitled The Road to Democracy on the internet and attempting to recruit members to set up an organisation called ”Mainland Democracy Frontline”.
A court officer hung up the phone when contacted by Agence France-Presse on Friday, while calls went unanswered at the local prosecution office.
Another Shandong-based cyber-dissident, Li Jianping, was charged with inciting subversion last week, also for posting politically sensitive essays on the web.
The maximum penalty for subversion is 15 years in jail, according to lawyers.
Human and media rights groups say China’s leaders are tightening their control over the web and traditional press amid increasing social unrest. – Sapa-AFP