Annual Report on the Situation of Human Rights Defenders in China ...

<strong>Annual</strong> <strong>Report</strong> on the Situation of Human Rights Defenders in China (2009)April 26, 2010possession of state secrets” on November 23. It is believed that Huang wasimprisoned for reporting and giving interviews to foreign journalists about protestsstaged by families of schoolchildren killed in the Sichuan earthquake in May 2008.Huang was kidnapped off the street by a number of unidentified men on June 10,2008, and later discovered to have been detained by the police. During Huang’sdetention, he was barred from accessing his lawyers for over three months after hewas first taken into custody. Huang was tried on August 5 in a closed trial. For moreinformation, see: http://www.crdnet.org/Article/Class9/Class15/200911/20091123130625_18479.html6. Liang Yonghong ( ), a villager and former soldier who has been active infighting corruption among village officials since May 2006, was convicted of“illegally assembling a crowd to demonstrate" and sentenced to three years ofimprisonment in Tanhe Village, Liuwang Town, Rong County, Yulin City, GuangxiProvince on July 15. Liang’s family was not informed of his sentence until August 13.It is believed that Liang was retaliated against for leading a group of villagers toprotest against corruption among Tanhe village cadres on November 12, 2008. Priorto the protest, Liang had repeatedly submitted applications to hold demonstrations,but they were either denied or ignored. His trial was held on June 17.宏 勇 梁 7. Liu Xiaobo ( ), China’s best-known dissident intellectual, was convicted of“inciting subversion of state power” on December 25 by the Beijing No. 1 MunicipalCourt. Liu was sentenced to eleven years in prison, with two years’ deprivation ofpolitical rights. Liu’s conviction was based entirely on his writings, nonviolentexpressions of his own opinions. Along with Charter 08, which he played aninstrumental role in drafting, six articles written by Liu between October 2005 andJuly 2007 were cited as evidence and used to convict him. Liu was detained onDecember 8, 2008, and until June 23, 2009, he was held under “residentialsurveillance” at an undisclosed location in Beijing. Except for two visits from hiswife, Liu had no contact with the outside world for six months. During this entireperiod, Liu was being held without being formally detained or arrested. See:波 晓 刘 http://www.crd-net.org/Article/Class9/Class10/200912/20091225123444_19092.html8. Tan Zuoren ( ), human rights activist and environmentalist, was sentenced tofive years in prison with an additional three years’ deprivation of political rights for“inciting subversion of state power” in Chengdu, Sichuan on February 9, 2010.According to his lawyer Pu Zhiqiang ( ), the court convicted Tan forattempting to organize commemorative activities for the 20 th anniversary of the June4th, 1989 crackdown on the pro-democracy movement, though many believe that Tanwas punished for conducting investigations into student deaths in the 2008 Sichuanearthquake. After the Sichuan earthquake, Tan published a number of commentaries人 作 谭 强 志 浦50