Beijing, Dec 27 (ANI): China has sentenced another veteran activist, Chen Xi, to ten years in prison, on a charge of inciting subversion.
Xi was involved in the 1989 Tiananmen protests and had published essays online criticising the Communist Party.
The jailing comes days after another activist, Chen Wei, was imprisoned for the same offence, The BBC reports.
Chen Xi's wife, Zhang Qunxuan said that her husband was innocent, but would not launch a "futile" appeal against his conviction.
"Chen Xi told the court it did not take into consideration the things he has written as a whole, and has interpreted his words out of context. But they have power and they don't listen," she said.
Xi had posted 36 essays online, and also hosted a human rights forum in Guiyang, south-west China. He had been jailed several times since being involved in the 1989 protests.
Meanwhile, rights groups expressed outrage and accused China of using the Christmas period as cover for a crackdown.
"It does work really well because there's no diplomatic activity around Christmas," said Nicholas Bequelin of Human Rights Watch.
"By the time the diplomats get back to their desks, the sequence of events has moved on," Bequelin added. (ANI)
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