Chinese blogger sentenced to three years in prison

China doesn’t really have bloggers, not the way the West does, but the independent voices of that country are trying hard to exercise their rights…and are not doing so well at it. The Associated Press reports:

A veteran of China's 1989 pro-democracy movement was sentenced Wednesday to three years in prison after writing Internet essays critical of the communist government, a monitoring center said.

Li Jianping was convicted of subversion by a court in the eastern city of Zibo in Shandong province, the Hong Kong-based Information Center for Human Rights and Democracy said...

Li, who operated a medical supply company, had posted essays online that criticized the government over issues including efforts to enact an anti-subversion law in Hong Kong, the Information Center said.

An employee who answered the phone at the court in Zibo and wouldn't give his name said he couldn't confirm the report.

Li's wife, Xu Hui, said earlier that his case was brought before the courts twice but was rejected for insufficient evidence before the prosecution finally went forward.

The indictment against Li Jianping is written in Chinese, but Google Translator gives us a rough translation. Here is the gist:

Zibo City Public Security Bureau investigation by the end of the case to the defendant, Li Jianping, for the crime of inciting subversion of state power...

Hospital that the accused, Li Jianping, a rumor, slander released on the Internet and other means to slander the socialist system. Party and state leaders of defamation, incitement to subvert state power the article reports, "PRC Criminal Law" and his behavior had violated provisions of Article 105, paragraph 2, the facts clearly. there is ample evidence, should be held accountable for the crime of subverting state power, Li Jianping, accused of criminal responsibility.

The translation isn’t that great, but the message can be read loud and clear: a Chinese man is being imprisoned for speaking his mind. No wonder that country doesn’t have many bloggers.