Chinese activist jailed for fraud and 'making trouble'

Supporters say prison sentence given to Ni Yulan, disabled after police beating, is illegal, unfair and inhumane
Ni Yulan and Dong Jiqin
Ni Yulan with her husband, Dong Jiqin. She has been sentenced to two years and eight months in prison. Photograph: Andy Wong/AP

A Chinese court has jailed a high-profile rights activist who is disabled due to police mistreatment for fraud and "making trouble".

It is Ni Yulan's third prison term since she angered officials by defending the rights of people whose homes were demolished to make way for new developments, including those moved because of the 2008 Olympics.

The 51-year-old's supporters believe the latest charges were further retaliation for her activism and have attacked the two-year-and-eight-month sentence as illegal, unfair and inhumane given her deteriorating health. She normally relies on a wheelchair but lay on a bed and used an oxygen machine during her trial.

Her husband Dong Jiqin was also sentenced to two years in prison for causing a disturbance. The couple were seized during a sweeping crackdown on activists and lawyers last year, in which many were formally detained while others simply disappeared for weeks or months.

Prosecutors alleged the couple had "wilfully occupied" a room at a hotel. Ni had said it was a 'black jail' - an unofficial detention centre - where police forced them to stay after their home was demolished.

A court spokesman said the couple had not lfeft 69,972 yuan (around £7,000) in unpaid hotel fees, had stopped visitors from registering at the hotel, torn up the registration book and abused staff.

"They refused to change their room or check out so normal operation of the hotel was seriously disturbed and huge economic losses were caused," he added.

Prosecutors also said Ni had swindled a person out of 5,000 yuan for "fabricating her identity as a lawyer", the spokesman said.

Ni was a lawyer, but was banned from working as one by authorities.

"Of course [the sentence] was unfair ... Ni is innocent." said her lawyer Cheng Hai.

He said there were no criminal grounds for her trial and she should have faced civil litigation or an administrative dispute at most. He will recommend she appeals.

Dong Qianyong, lawyer for Dong Jiqin, added: "Their case does not even constitute a crime. Ni has been in prison three times because of demolition. This is unfair and shameful for the legal system."

He said the court had refused to postpone the trial due to Ni's illness, adding: "Not only did it not conform to the law, but it was also inhumane."

The couple's daughter, Dong Xuan, told Reuters the verdict "was extremely unreasonable". She was allowed to attend the court session but left in a police car.

The European Union said it was "deeply concerned" in a statement issued in front of the courthouse in western Beijing. It called for her immediate release given her poor health.

"The European Union is preoccupied with the deterioration of the situation for human rights defenders in China and will continue to follow these cases attentively," it added.

Wang Songlian of the Chinese Human Rights Defenders group said she believed the couple might well have received heavier sentences without the international attention paid to their case.

She added that there appeared to be a personal element to the charges. "I think Ni's activism offended some official in Xicheng district and from then on the cycle of activism and the retaliation has continued," she said.

Wang suggested that while international attention had protected the activist to some extent, last year's crackdown "provided a perfect opportunity [for further retaliation] - and Ni and Dong were swept up in the storm."

Wang said supporters should continue to press the authorities to ensure Ni received adequate treatment, as her health deteriorated significantly during previous detentions.

Ni was disabled when police repeatedly kicked her in the knees during a detention in 2002, after seizing her as she videotaped the demolition of a neighbour's house.

On another occasion guards beat her, insulted her and urinated on her face, she told Associated Press.

Ni told reporters that during her second prison term she was not permitted crutches and was forced to crawl down a five-floor stairwell and across the prison yard to the workshop every day.

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