A former Tiananmen student leader was jailed for nine years yesterday by a Sichuan court for inciting subversion, in what rights groups say is the harshest punishment yet handed down in a sweeping crackdown on dissent this year.
Chen Wei, 42, an activist and student leader in the 1989 pro-democracy movement, was convicted by Suining Intermediate People's Court of 'inciting subversion of state power' after a two-hour hearing, said his lawyer Zheng Jianwei.
'The constitution states that citizens have the right to criticise government organisations ... Chen Wei was just expressing his thoughts through his essays,' Zheng said.
Prosecutors said that between March 2009 and January this year, Chen published 'inflammatory articles' critical of the government on overseas websites, including one entitled 'The growth of opposition is the key to China's democratisation'.
Chen told the court yesterday his criticism of the Communist Party should not be regarded as criminal. But Zheng said Chen's defence was rejected by the court, which said his crime was 'particularly serious' and found him guilty.
Chen shouted, 'I'm innocent' three times and, 'Constitutional democracy will triumph, autocracy will fall' as he was led away, his wife, Wang Xiaoyan, said.