China jails 3 online activists; many show support

By Gillian Wong - The Associated Press - via Google News
April 16, 2010

A Chinese court jailed three people Friday who posted material on the Internet to help an illiterate woman pressure authorities to reinvestigate her daughter's death, one defendant's lawyer said, in a trial that attracted scores of supporters.

The court in southern Fuzhou city found the Internet activists guilty of slander, sentencing to jail self-taught legal expert Fan Yanqiong for two years. Two others, You Jingyou and Wu Huaying, were each handed one-year sentences, said You's attorney Liu Xiaoyuan, in a phone interview. The court did not name individuals allegedly slandered by the three, saying instead that this was a matter that seriously affected the interest of the state.

The three defendants posted information and videos online in a bid to help Lin Xiuying, a woman who believed her daughter died after being gang-raped two years ago by a group of thugs with links to the police in Fujian province's Mingqin county. Police had ruled that the 25-year-old woman died from an abnormal pregnancy.

It is the latest example of Chinese Internet users being targeted for their budding grass-roots activism -- ordinary people spreading word of grievances from every corner of the country with postings on Twitter, microblogs and other Web sites.

"The court said the three people's actions have seriously affected the interest of the state, which is laughable," said Liu, the lawyer, adding that he worried the verdict could cause public unhappiness in the southern province. "It infringes on the people's freedom of speech, which is the legal right of citizens."

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