Prison sentences issued by Chinese courts to six human right defenders on April 8 are reminders of ongoing arbitrary detentions and relentless persecution of dissent in China under Xi Jinping’s rule. Courts in Guangdong and Hubei convicted the six activists of “inciting subversion of state power” and sentenced them to prison terms of between 18 months and four-and-a-half years. Two of the six recently sentenced activists were taken into custody around the 25-year anniversary of June Fourth (the Tiananmen Square Massacre), and the four others were detained for expressing support for Hong Kong’s pro-democracy movement.
 
The progression of these cases follow a now-familiar pattern of persecution of detained human rights defenders in China, namely restricted access to legal counsel, unreasonably prolonged detention before being brought before a judge, alleged torture and inhumane treatment, and the use of a serious “endangering national security” crime to persecute HRDs for exercising free speech and peaceful assembly.

You can read the full news article by China Human Rights Defenders here. 

(Photo: China Human Rights Briefing from China Human Rights Defenders)