Two Chinese human rights activists sentenced to 14 and 12 years in prison

10 Apr. (EUROPE PRESS) –

Two Chinese activists, Xu Zhiyong and Ding Jiaxi, have been sentenced to 14 and 12 years in prison respectively on subversion charges, Ding’s wife, Luo Shengchun, has reported.

Luo has confirmed these sentences via Twitter, calling the sentences “unconscious” and “arbitrary”. However, the official Chinese media have not given any information about it.

Xu, 50, and Ding, 55, are accused of promoting the New Citizens Movement, a civil rights organization that encouraged Chinese people to exercise their fundamental rights recognized in the Constitution, reports the Axios news portal.

Both were arrested after participating in an informal meeting in the city of Xiamen in 2019, where more than twenty activists and lawyers addressed issues such as governance or Human Rights. Shortly before his arrest, Xu wrote an open letter to Chinese President Xi Jinping calling on him to resign.

Xu and Ding have already served four and three and a half years in prison for crimes related to their activism.

The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Turk, has expressed his “concern” over these sentences that “disagree with international Human Rights standards.”

“Human Rights require that people not be prosecuted judicially or in other ways for expressing criticism of government policies. They also require that the rights to a fair trial and due process be respected and that any complaint of mistreatment be investigated “, has added.

Volker has stressed that he will discuss these cases with the Chinese authorities. “It is important that steps are taken to ensure that other human rights defenders are not persecuted for exercising their Human Rights to freedom of expression, association and peaceful assembly,” she stressed.