LEAD: Second Chinese dissident in four days sentenced for subversion

Dec 26, 2011, 10:56 GMT

Beijing - China on Monday sentenced the second dissident in four days to prison, as part of a crackdown on activists inspired by the Arab Spring.

Democracy activist Chen Xi, 57, received a 10-year sentence in Guiyang, the capital of the southern province of Guizhou, for 'inciting subversion of state power,' the rights group Chinese Human Rights Defenders said.

The sentence stemmed from 36 essays that were critical of the ruling Communist Party which he wrote and distributed online, the group said.

The case was similar to one involving Chen Wei, who was sentenced Friday to nine years in jail. Both Chens wrote critical essays posted online, both were convicted of subversion, and both are longtime dissidents who took part in pro-democracy demonstrations centred on Beijing's Tiananmen Square in 1989.

UN human rights chief Navi Pillay said Wei's sentence was another serious setback for human rights in China.

'I call upon Chinese authorities to release any person detained for peacefully exercising his or her right to freedom of expression,' the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights said in Geneva.

Xi's sentence was his third lengthy punishment. He served three years after the 1989 protests and was then given another 10-year sentence for 'counterrevolutionary crimes.'

He was also one of the first dissidents to sign the Charter '08 for democratic reform.

Both Chens were arrested in a crackdown this year to prevent protests akin to the those of the Arab Spring spreading to China, Chinese Human Rights Defenders said.

In February and March, Chinese dissidents called on people to protest in several cities in emulation of the demonstrations in Arab countries. Security forces were quick to nip the demonstrations in the bud.

Inciting subversion is a charge Chinese authorities often use against dissidents.