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CHINA SENTENCES
SHANGHAI DISSIDENT FOR SUBVERSION
RFA 2004-01-09
Sang Jiancheng distributed dissidents’ letter to
Party Congress
A Shanghai court has handed down a three-year jail
term to dissident Sang Jiancheng for “subverting state
power,” RFA’s Mandarin service reports.
The Shanghai Intermediate People’s Court sentenced
Sang on Jan. 6. He was arrested secretly on Nov. 10,
2003, the New York-based Human Rights in China (HRIC)
group said in a statement.
Sang was arrested after he distributed copies of an
open letter to the 16th Party Congress of the Chinese
Communist Party in Nov. 2002, HRIC said, citing
indictment papers submitted by the Shanghai state
prosecution bureau.
The letter was drafted by Zhao Changqing and Ouyang Yi,
and signed by 192 dissidents ahead of the Congress
that saw Jiang Zemin hand over power to President Hu
Jintao.
It called on the government to reassess the verdict on
the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre and release
prisoners of conscience. It also advocated a gradual
move towards democracy for China.
Many signatories were later arrested and several,
including Zhao, Dai Xuezhong, He Depu, and Jiang Lijun,
have been sentenced to lengthy prison terms.
Ouyang, a 35-year-old elementary-school teacher, stood
trial for subversion in October 2003, but no verdict
or sentence was handed down by the Chengdu
Intermediate People’s Court. Instead, the court has
repeatedly requested more information from prosecutors,
the Hong Kong-based Information Center for Human
Rights and Democracy in China said in a statement.
China has seen a string of subversion cases in recent
months, as authorities crack down on anyone aiming to
spread dissenting opinions, especially via the
Internet. More than 30 people are thought to have been
detained for airing criticisms of the regime online
since Internet use began to burgeon in the late 1990s.
Overall, the government’s policy has been to encourage
the use of the Internet for business and educational
purposes, but not for political discussion. #####
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