China jails dissident for seven years over "subversive" poem

Feb 10, 2012, 9:29 GMT

Beijing - China on Friday sentenced veteran dissident Zhu Yufu to seven years in prison after convicting him on subversion charges linked to a poem he published online, rights groups said.

His wife and daughter attended Zhu's sentencing at a court in the eastern city of Hanzhou, China Human Rights Defenders said.

At his trial last month, Zhu was accused of 'inciting subversion of state power' through his poem It's Time, which was published online during calls early last year for protests to promote democratic reform.

Much of the prosecution's evidence focussed on Zhu's poem, said Li Dunyong, one of Zhu's lawyers.

'If it wasn't for this poem, perhaps they wouldn't have arrested him,' Li said.

Other evidence included Zhu's membership in the illegal China Democratic Party, interviews he gave on political subjects and his calls for donations to support political prisoners.

Li said Zhu 'spoke a lot' against the accusations during his trial and had pleaded not guilty.

Zhu, 58, was arrested in March. He took part in China's 1979 Democracy Wall movement and served nine years for two previous prison sentences.

His short poem encouraged people to 'use our feet to go to the square and make a choice.'

It ended with the lines: 'China belongs to everyone. The choice is our own. It's time to choose our future China.'

Zhu's imprisonment followed heavy prison sentences against at least three other well-known dissidents in the past three months.