Chinese court upholds prison term for human rights advocate Chen Guangcheng

Dec 2 2006

A court in China's Shandong province on Friday upheld a four-year, three-month prison sentence for human rights advocate Chen Guangcheng -- who was arrested in China after attempting to bring a class-action lawsuit against the government for alleged human rights abuses associated with the enforcement of the country's one-child-per-family policy -- the Washington Post reports (Fan, Washington Post, 12/1).

For his lawsuit, Chen recorded testimony from men and women in communities in and around China's Linyi province who experienced forced abortions and sterilizations.

In August, he was sentenced by a court in China's Shandong province to four years and three months in prison for allegedly "willfully damaging property" and "organizing a mob to disturb traffic."

An appeals court in Shandong in October ordered the retrial. According to Li Jingsong, one of Chen's attorneys, the Linyi City Intermediate Court overturned the sentence "because the process of the first trial was unfair, and facts and evidence ... were not tenable and did not hold water" (Kaiser Daily Women's Health Policy Report, 11/28).

Teng Biao, one of Chen's attorneys, said, "The verdict shows that the court didn't listen to any of the lawyer's opinions. They must have made the decision before the trial."

He added, "This amounts to malevolent retaliation by the local government" (Magnier, Los Angeles Times, 12/1).

Mark Allison, a Hong Kong-based researcher for Amnesty International, said that Chen's "initial trial was grossly unfair" and the "retrial failed to consider new evidence from key witnesses and has not delivered justice."

He added, "We continue to view this case as a politically motivated attempt to prevent Chen ... from pursuing his peaceful human rights activities" (Reuters, 12/1).

Mickey Spiegel, a researcher for Human Rights Watch, said the verdict has "very little to do with justice" and "everything to do with politics," adding, "It's just a very bad day for justice in China" (Ang, AP/Houston Chronicle, 12/1).