 ASIA NEWS  FEBRUARY 10, 2010 China Sentences Earthquake Activist

By SKY CANAVES

BEIJING?China's government sentenced Tan Zuoren, an activist who questioned official accounts of school collapses in the massive Sichuan earthquake of 2008, to five years in prison after convicting him on subversion charges, the government's latest move in an escalating campaign to strangle dissent.

A court in the provincial capital of Chengdu on Tuesday found Mr. Tan guilty of inciting subversion of state power for writings that commemorated the 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown, according to his lawyer, . However, Mr. Pu, along with human rights groups and other supporters, say they believe the underlying reason for Mr. Tan's prosecution was his investigations into the collapse of school buildings during the May 2008 earthquake and the resulting deaths of thousands of schoolchildren.

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Tan Zuoren, shown in an undated photo, was given a five-year sentence for inciting subversion. Previous charges against Mr. Tan included references to his activism on the earthquake, a sensitive matter for authorities. But Tuesday's verdict did not mention the earthquake, and Mr. Pu said the issue was not raised during Mr. Tan's trial, which took place last August. Chinese courts, all of which are ultimately controlled by the ruling Communist Party, often delay verdicts after trials conclude, although generally not as long as six months.

The verdict against Mr. Tan is the latest in a string of high-profile dissident convictions in recent months that longtime human rights analysts say represent a major ratcheting up of official repression. The efforts to stifle dissent have continued well after the Beijing Olympics in August 2008 and the 60th anniversary of the founding of Communist China last October, defying hopes from many that authorities would ease limits after those politically sensitive events concluded.

The same Chengdu court that sentenced Mr. Tan Tuesday also rejected an appeal brought by , another earthquake activist, according to his lawyer, Mo Shaoping. Mr. Huang was sentenced in November to a three-year prison term on charges of possessing state secrets.

In December, a court convicted veteran democracy activist , China's most prominent dissident, to an unusually long prison sentence of 11 years for criticism of the government that authorities said incited subversion. That sentence was interpreted by rights activists as a warning to other dissidents. A ruling on Mr. Liu's appeal is expected later this week, though chances of success are virtually nonexistent.

Last week, authorities formally charged Zhao Lianhai, who was arrested in December, with disrupting social order after he organized families to seek compensation and care for children sickened in 2008 by tainted milk produced by state-run factories.

Associated Press

In this May 17, 2008 photo, student ID tags are placed on the ground at the Juyuan Middle School, following the May 12 earthquake in China's southwest Sichuan province. In what rights advocates say is one of the most worrisome cases, the whereabouts of human rights lawyer have been unknown outside the Chinese government since he disappeared a year ago after his wife and children fled the country. Chinese authorities have repeatedly refused to provide information on Mr. Gao's status.

Mr. Tan, the earthquake activist, was detained by police in March. He had been planning to issue an independent report on his findings about the 7.9-magnitude quake, which official figures say left nearly 90,000 dead or missing, including 5,335 students.

The numbers suggest that deaths among schoolchildren were not disproportionately high, but many parents and activists expressed skepticism about the figures, pointing to evidence of shoddy school construction, and continued their own efforts to compile a complete record of dead children, despite ongoing harassment from authorities.

Mr. Tan received the maximum five-year prison sentence and will be deprived of his political rights for an additional three years. Mr. Pu said his client plans to appeal the sentence.

A court officer at the Chengdu Intermediate People's Court confirmed the guilty verdict and sentence but declined to comment further.

Write to Sky Canaves at [email protected]

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