Chinese critic on quake response gets 3 years

[November 23, 2009]  BEIJING (AP) -- A Chinese dissident was sentenced Monday to three years in prison after criticizing the government's response to the 2008 Sichuan earthquake that killed about 90,000 people.

Huang Qi was convicted of illegally possessing state secrets by the Wuhou district court in the western city of Chengdu, his wife Zeng Li said by telephone.

Zeng said no details were given about the charge, an ill-defined accusation often used by Communist leaders to clamp down on dissent and imprison activists.

Huang was detained on June 10, 2008, after posting articles on his Web site criticizing the government's response to the massive May 2008 earthquake that struck Sichuan province, killing about 90,000 people. Huang had also spoken to foreign media outlets about parent's criticisms that their children had been crushed in badly built schools, complaints the government has attempted to squelch.

Zeng said Huang was taken directly from the court on Monday without being allowed to speak, but added she believed he would appeal the sentence.

Calls to the court and Huang's lawyer, Mo Shaoping, rang unanswered.

Huang has already served a five-year prison sentence on subversion charges linked to politically sensitive articles posted on his Web site.

Since his release in 2005, Huang had supported a wide range of causes, including aiding families of those killed in the 1989 military crackdown on pro-democracy protests in Beijing and publicizing the complaints of farmers involved in land disputes with authorities.

[Associated Press]

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