China rights activists jailed for subverting state power

Xu Zhiyong and Ding Jiaxi sentenced to 14 and 12 years, respectively after vocally pushing for greater democratic rights in China

Final statements from the two are released by Ding’s wife before sentencing handed down in Shandong court

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Beijing-based activists Xu Zhiyong (left) and Ding Jiaxi, have been jailed for 14 and 12 years, respectively by a court in China. Photo: Handout

Published: 2:00pm, 10 Apr 2023Updated: 8:21pm, 10 Apr 2023

A court in China has jailed two of the country’s most prominent human rights leaders for more than 10 years after finding them guilty of subverting state power, an offence often used to stifle political dissent.

Xu Zhiyong, a former legal scholar, lawyer and civil rights activist, was sentenced to 14 years by the Linshu County People’s Court in Shandong province, eastern China on Monday. He was also deprived of his political rights – such as the right to publish – for four years.

Human rights lawyer Ding Jiaxi was sentenced to 12 years and deprived of his political rights for three years by the same court shortly afterwards, according to his wife, Luo Shengchun, who announced the sentence on Twitter.

Xu, 50, and Ding, 55, have been detained for more than three years, including a period under residential surveillance – a form of detention of up to six months at a secret location without access to family or a lawyer.

Both men were tried in closed-door hearings in June last year, after vocally pushing for greater democratic rights in China.

Xu and Ding also urged officials to disclose their wealth, making them targets of authorities tasked with suppressing organised political activism that could challenge Communist Party rule.

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