In a rare display of official tolerance, outspoken Chinese human rights lawyer Gao Zhisheng (
Gao, 42, was given a five-year reprieve, Xinhua news agency said yesterday, quoting sources with a local court. That meant he does not have to serve his sentence unless he commits another crime over the next five years.
Gao has legally represented religious activists, members of the banned Falun Gong spiritual movement and farmers with land disputes.
It was unclear why he was given a relatively lenient sentence, coming on the heels of a 20-year jail term for sociologist Lu Jianhua (
But he was also deprived of his political rights for one year, which would prevent him from speaking to reporters and might mean he could be kept under house arrest or surveillance.
Gao was accused of posting nine "seditious articles," on overseas Web sites.
China secretly tried Gao this month on a charge of inciting subversion of state power, drawing condemnation from dissidents.
The hearing excluded Gao's chosen lawyers, who have not been allowed to visit him.
Gao is one of several activists held or jailed in a crackdown on campaigners seeking to use legal activism to expand citizens' rights. Last February he started a "relay style" hunger strike to protest what he said was police brutality against activists. Dissidents across China and around the world participated in the hunger strike.
Gao's case comes amid a crackdown on Chinese lawyers who represent people with grievances against the government over corruption, seizures of farmland and other abuses. Lawyers have been detained and harassed, and some have been stripped of their licenses.
The Chinese government tightened restrictions on lawyers this year in an apparent effort to contain a surge in politically sensitive cases. The new restrictions require lawyers to follow government guidance in handling cases, to avoid talking to foreign reporters and to discourage clients from protesting.
His wife and other relatives have faced police harassment and house arrest.
"As a friend, I'm happy he can go home back to his wife and children," fellow activist Hu Jia (
"This is the result of the endeavors of the international community and activists. This is our first victory," Hu said. "Gao Zhisheng is innocent and the case itself is an infringement of his human rights."
Meanwhile, a Chinese vice admiral has been jailed for life on a charge of embezzlement, a Beijing-funded Hong Kong newspaper reported yesterday.
Originally it was reported that Wang Shouye (
A Beijing military court convicted and sentenced Wang on Dec. 14, the Wen Wei Po newspaper said, quoting unidentified sources.
A fire caused by a burst gas pipe yesterday spread to several homes and sent a fireball soaring into the sky outside Malaysia’s largest city, injuring more than 100 people. The towering inferno near a gas station in Putra Heights outside Kuala Lumpur was visible for kilometers and lasted for several hours. It happened during a public holiday as Muslims, who are the majority in Malaysia, celebrate the second day of Eid al-Fitr. National oil company Petronas said the fire started at one of its gas pipelines at 8:10am and the affected pipeline was later isolated. Disaster management officials said shutting the
DITCH TACTICS: Kenyan officers were on their way to rescue Haitian police stuck in a ditch suspected to have been deliberately dug by Haitian gang members A Kenyan policeman deployed in Haiti has gone missing after violent gangs attacked a group of officers on a rescue mission, a UN-backed multinational security mission said in a statement yesterday. The Kenyan officers on Tuesday were on their way to rescue Haitian police stuck in a ditch “suspected to have been deliberately dug by gangs,” the statement said, adding that “specialized teams have been deployed” to search for the missing officer. Local media outlets in Haiti reported that the officer had been killed and videos of a lifeless man clothed in Kenyan uniform were shared on social media. Gang violence has left
US Vice President J.D. Vance on Friday accused Denmark of not having done enough to protect Greenland, when he visited the strategically placed and resource-rich Danish territory coveted by US President Donald Trump. Vance made his comment during a trip to the Pituffik Space Base in northwestern Greenland, a visit viewed by Copenhagen and Nuuk as a provocation. “Our message to Denmark is very simple: You have not done a good job by the people of Greenland,” Vance told a news conference. “You have under-invested in the people of Greenland, and you have under-invested in the security architecture of this
Japan unveiled a plan on Thursday to evacuate around 120,000 residents and tourists from its southern islets near Taiwan within six days in the event of an “emergency”. The plan was put together as “the security situation surrounding our nation grows severe” and with an “emergency” in mind, the government’s crisis management office said. Exactly what that emergency might be was left unspecified in the plan but it envisages the evacuation of around 120,000 people in five Japanese islets close to Taiwan. China claims Taiwan as part of its territory and has stepped up military pressure in recent years, including
RSS