Two Chinese activists who backed HK democracy protests jailed for ‘subverting state power’
Heavy sentences handed to Su Changlan and Chen Qitang are part of ongoing crackdown on civil society, lawyer says
Two mainland Chinese activists who supported pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong were jailed by a court in southern China on Friday for subverting state power, but their lawyer said their heavy sentences were part of an ongoing crackdown on civil society.
Su Changlan and Chen Qitang, who both faced “incitement to subvert state power” charges, were jailed for three and four and a half years respectively by a court in Foshan, near Guangzhou, according to their lawyer, Liu Xiaoyuan.
The verdict made no mention of Hong Kong.
At least four other Chinese activists have been put behind bars for supporting Hong Kong’s Occupy Central pro-democracy protests in 2014. At least 100 people on the mainland had been detained for voicing support for the demonstrations, according to Amnesty International.
Liu said he was very angry and disappointed at both the heavy sentence and what he called the court’s disrespect of the law.