Chinese sentences dissident to 13 years jail

By ALEXA OLESEN, Associated Press Writer


BEIJING – A Chinese dissident who tried to organize a national meeting of the banned China Democracy Party has been sentenced to 13 years in jail for subverting state power, his lawyer said Wednesday.

Xie Changfa, 57, was tried in April and sentenced Tuesday by the Changsha Municipal Intermediate Court in southern China's Hunan province, his lawyer Ma Gangquan said in a telephone interview. He plans to appeal, Ma said.

China allows a small number of officially recognized alternative parties, although they serve as advisers rather than competitors to the ruling Communist Party.

Founded by dissidents in mid-1998, the China Democracy Party was quashed six months later by the Communist Party. Dozens of founding members were arrested and sentenced to up to 13 years in prison, most on charges of subverting state power.

"The charges and judgment both say his crime relates to work he did to establish the party's Hunan chapter and to his efforts to organize a national party meeting, but we have maintained all along that such activities are not crimes but in fact are the constitutional rights of all Chinese citizens," said Ma.

A man who answered the telephone at the publicity office of the Changsha court said the spokesman was not immediately available to answer media queries.

Chinese authorities have stepped up efforts to curb dissent, arresting or detaining leading dissidents and harassing lawyers who defend them, in the lead-up to the 60th anniversary of the Communist Party's rule. The Oct. 1 celebration will be marked by a military parade.

Hunan police detained Xie in June last year after he discussed hosting a national congress for the China Democracy Party with fellow party members. In August, he was formally arrested and charged with subverting state power.

Xie's younger brother, Xie Changzhen, attended the sentencing and said he was surprised and infuriated by the harsh ruling. He noted that if the punishment is upheld, his brother will be more than 70 years old when he is freed.

"This sentence is an insult to the Chinese people, to people everywhere," he said.

Xie became active in the Hunan chapter of the party in 1998. Prior to that, he also served three years in a re-education-through-labor camp for a series of speeches denouncing the June 4, 1989, military crackdown on pro-democracy protesters. A former factory worker, he is divorced and has two children, his brother said.

Also Wednesday, a human rights group said a well-known Chinese dissident who co-authored a bold political manifesto calling for an end to one-party rule is still under detention in Beijing and being investigated by police.


Liu Xiaobo was taken into police custody on Dec. 8 last year and formally arrested in June though he has yet to be charged. The Hong Kong-based rights advocacy group, Chinese Human Rights Defenders, said in a statement that Liu's lawyers met with him Monday and were told the investigation into his case has been extended until at least Sept. 23.