Four Chinese academics and two other people convicted of using the Internet to spread material from the banned Falun Gong movement have been jailed for terms of up to 12 years, a human rights organisation says.
Four of those jailed were faculty members at Beijing's elite Tsinghua University, the Hong Kong-based Information Centre for Human Rights and Democracy said in a statement.
The group's members were sentenced on December 13 by the Beijing Number One Intermediate People's Court.
A court official contacted by telephone said four Falun Gong followers were sentenced on December 13 but she didn't know their identities.
Other officials of the court refused to give any information.
Tsinghua's administration and press offices refused to comment.
The university is China's most prominent school for chemistry, physics and other hard sciences.
A small, devoted group of Falun Gong followers have stayed active in private despite an intense, often brutal crackdown launched in July, 1999, which has stripped the group of most of its public believers.
In the latest stage in its attack, China's Government has blamed Falun Gong for a series of murders in which state media claim followers inspired by its teachings killed relatives.
Thousands of Falun Gong followers have been detained in the crackdown.
Supporters abroad say more than 300 have died from torture and mistreatment.
Last month, China deported 35 Westerners, including six Americans, who protested in Beijing against the crackdown.
The group of followers sentenced on December 13 included a woman member of Tsinghua's staff and a graduate student at a Shanghai university, the Information Centre said.
It said the longest sentence of 12 years was imposed on Yao Yue, a woman researcher at Tsinghua's microelectronics research institute.
Wang Xuefei, the Shanghai graduate student, was sentenced to 11 years; Meng Jun, a Tsinghua professor of electronics, to 10 years and Wang Xin, another Tsinghua academic, to nine years, it said.
Dong Yanhong, a Tsinghua staff member, got five years and Liu Wenyu, a Tsinghua professor of electric power who is Yao's husband, three years.