CHINESE DISSIDENT Huang Qi was jailed for three years yesterday for his efforts to help the victims of last year’s Sichuan earthquake.
His conviction on charges of possession of state secrets comes just days after US president Barack Obama urged China to allow greater human rights for its citizens.
The sentencing of Huang Qi is a clear sign that China is not willing to cede any ground on granting greater personal freedoms, despite Mr Obama’s statements about universal human rights.
It’s the second high-profile dissident trial since Mr Obama’s visit.
Last week, Zhou Yongjun, a student leader of China’s 1989 pro-democracy movement, who has long lived in the US, was tried on fraud charges, also in Sichuan province.
His family believes the charges are trumped up. Formerly, visits of US presidents to China usually meant the speedy release and deportation of some high-profile dissident. However, it would appear those days are over.
Mr Huang, a veteran activist who has been jailed for subversion before, was detained by the police in the southwestern province for trying to help parents who wanted answers on why their children died in shoddily-built schools during the May 2008 earthquake in Sichuan, which left 90,000 people dead or missing.
He was sentenced by a court in Chengdu, capital of the province. According to the government, 5,335 schoolchildren were killed in the earthquake, and parents who have taken the government to task over the schools issue have been harassed and arrested.
His wife, Zeng Li, was not allowed to see any documents relating to the trial, and did not get a copy of the verdict. Mr Huang was detained on June 10th, 2008, while he was having dinner in a restaurant. He had posted articles on his website critical of the government response to the earthquake. He also spoke to foreign media outlets about criticism of the government’s reaction on the schools issue.
He was working on behalf of families of five primary school pupils who died when school buildings collapsed in the earthquake, and had been attempting to bring a legal case against local authorities. During the trial Ms Li was not allowed to see him, and supporters were banned from the courtroom.
Colm O’Gorman of Amnesty International Ireland said: “Huang Qi should be treated as a model citizen, committed to the rule of law, but instead he has fallen victim to China’s vague state secrets legislation.”
Mr Huang was first allowed to meet his lawyer, Ding Xikui, on September 23rd, 2008, more than 100 days after he was detained. Suspects on state secrets charges are regularly denied access to a lawyer or to their families, and witnesses are not allowed to testify on their behalf.
One of China’s top artists, Ai Weiwei, who was involved in designing the Bird’s Nest Olympic stadium, was beaten by police in August when he tried to testify at the trial of Tan Zuoren, an activist investigating the collapse of schools in last year’s Sichuan earthquake.
He developed subdural haematoma about a month later and had to have surgery in Germany.