Beijing, China - CHINA has sentenced a journalist to seven years in prison for writing articles for an overseas dissident newspaper linked to the banned Falun Gong spiritual group, rights groups said today.
Zheng Yichun was sentenced on Wednesday by a court in Yingkou city, in the north-east province of Liaoning, for "inciting subversion" through his writings, according to the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ).
He was the third Chinese journalist jailed this year for transmitting information and opinions online, according to the CPJ.
Authorities detained the freelance writer on December 3, 2004 after he criticised Communist Party leaders in his writings.
Zheng, a former professor, had written hundreds of articles for online news sites that are blocked in China, but the CPJ said sources familiar with the case believed the government was especially opposed to his writings for Epoch Times, which is associated with the Falun Gong group that has been banned by the government.
They believe Zheng's harsh sentence may be linked to Chinese leaders' objections to the Epoch Times series Nine Commentaries on the Communist Party, a widely read and controversial look at the ruling party's history and current practices, CPJ said.
Epoch Times is openly circulated in news stands in US cities with large Chinese immigrant populations.
Zheng was initially tried in April. No verdict was announced. He was tried again in July on the same charges. As in the April trial, the proceedings lasted just three hours, CPJ said.
"Zheng has done nothing more than express his opinions, a right that is guaranteed to all Chinese citizens," CPJ executive director Ann Cooper said.
The Chinese government's determination to keep the internet and journalists on a tight leash also saw the sentencing this year of Shi Tao to 10 years in prison and Zhang Lin to five years.