AFP reports that prison sentences passed on two New Citizens’ Movement activists in April were upheld by a Beijing court on Friday. Their trial, which one defense lawyer described as “unabashedly illegal” was part of an extensive campaign against the anti-corruption and civil rights group in which several other members have also been imprisoned.
Beijing’s intermediate court stood by a three-and-a-half year jail sentence handed to Ding Jiaxi, a well-known human rights lawyer, and a two-year sentence handed to activist Li Wei, their attorney Guo Haiyue told AFP.
[…] The two had appealed after being convicted of “gathering a crowd to disturb public order”, a charge often used to detain protesters in China. [Source]
