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Chinese journalist and #Metoo activist Sophia Huang Xueqin was sentenced to five years in prison on Friday for “inciting subversion of state power” after becoming a symbol of China’s stalled women’s rights movement.
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A group of supporters said on social media platform X that she was sentenced along with labor activist Wang Jianbing, who was sentenced to three years and six months in prison.
Huang wrote on social media about her experience of sexual harassment in the workplace as a young reporter for a Chinese news agency. #Me too move.
A member of the supporters group told AFP last year that she and Wang Lijun had organized regular gatherings together in the southern city of Guangzhou before they were both detained in 2021.
The court said on Friday that the meetings, which took place in November 2020, “were held under the pretext of discussing social issues and incited participants’ dissatisfaction with China’s state power,” according to theFree Huang XueQin & Wang JianBing“ Group.
#renew The verdict was delivered this morning. #HuangXueqin Sentenced to 5 years’ imprisonment, and #WangJianBing Sentenced to 3 years and 6 months in prison. Huang said in court that he would appeal. Wang’s appeal decision is being made after consultation with his lawyer. pic.twitter.com/LmpKO8CHXR
— Free Huang Xueqin & Wang Jianbing Release Xuebing (@FreeXueBing) June 14, 2024
Their trial took place behind closed doors in 2023, and international human rights groups have expressed concerns about their health in detention.
On Friday, supporters posted photos showing barriers and a heavy police presence around the Guangzhou Intermediate People’s Court, where the verdict was to be announced.
The reporter tried to contact the court but failed. The judgment is not currently available in the Chinese National Court Document Database.
But supporters said Wong was accused of “publishing distorted, inflammatory articles and speeches on social media attacking the national government” and “calling on overseas organizers to participate in online training on ‘non-violent action’.”
She was detained by authorities after reporting on Hong Kong’s massive 2019 pro-democracy protests.
In 2021, she was originally going to study in the UK, but was detained again.
Wang, described by friends as a “low-key senior” labor activist, was charged on Friday with publishing “false articles and remarks attacking China’s political system and government.”
He also joined “(subversive) overseas online groups”, including one commemorating the deadly Tiananmen Square The court said it was the 1989 Square crackdown.
Sarah Brooks, China Director at Amnesty International Criticism Sentences for “malicious and unfounded convictions”.
“Sophia Huang Xueqin and Wang Jianbing have been jailed simply for exercising their right to free expression. They must be released immediately and unconditionally,” Brooks said.
Earlier on Friday, the Committee to Protect Journalists called for “the immediate and unconditional release of Joshua Wong and the dropping of the charges against her.”
(AFP)
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