Two well-known civil rights activists have been sentenced to lengthy prison terms in China. A people’s court in Linshu city, Shandong province sentenced legal scholar Xu Zhiyong to 14 years in prison, while civil rights attorney Ding Jiaxi received 12 years.
Ding Jiaxi’s wife, who lives in exile in the United States, reported this on Twitter. They were accused of “undermining state power”. Both lawyers are among the most prominent civil rights activists in China who have recently been tried.
They were arrested in 2019 and 2020 as part of a campaign against lawyers and activists. Both had previously been in prison for several years. International human rights organizations criticized the verdict and called for an immediate reversal.
