The founder of a prominent Chinese civil and human rights website has been sentenced to five years in prison for inciting state subversion, according to human rights organisations. Liu Feiyue created and ran the Civil Rights and Livelihood Watch website, which covers a range of rights issues including protests, police abuses and government corruption – sensitive topics that are scrubbed from most Chinese media sites.
The Suizhou intermediate people’s court in central Hubei province sentenced him on Tuesday after he was found guilty of “inciting subversion of state power”. According to Liu’s family members, one of whom was allowed to attend the hearing, the activist shouted at the end of his hearing: “This is political persecution!” He was then dragged out of the court room. “We think the verdict is unfair. It’s political persecution. He is charged of inciting subversion of state power, but he is not. He just helps petitioners,” said Ding Qihua, Liu’s mother.
The Suizhou intermediate people’s court in central Hubei province sentenced him on Tuesday after he was found guilty of “inciting subversion of state power”. According to Liu’s family members, one of whom was allowed to attend the hearing, the activist shouted at the end of his hearing: “This is political persecution!” He was then dragged out of the court room. “We think the verdict is unfair. It’s political persecution. He is charged of inciting subversion of state power, but he is not. He just helps petitioners,” said Ding Qihua, Liu’s mother.
