Chongqing Court Rejects Xu Wanping Appeal

March 29, 2006

The Chongqing High People's Court rejected the appeal of Xu Wanping on February 28; a lower-level court had sentenced Xu in December 2005 to 12 years in prison in connection with his association with the banned China Democracy Party (CDP), according to a February 28 Reuters article. The High People's Court "found that Xu received financial aid from hostile foreign organizations starting in 2001, and joined illegal organizations aimed at subverting the Chinese government," according to a Xinhua article reprinted on the China Radio International Web site.

The Chongqing High People's Court rejected the appeal of Xu Wanping on February 28; a lower-level court had sentenced Xu in December 2005 to 12 years in prison in connection with his association with the banned China Democracy Party (CDP), according to a February 28 Reuters article. The High People's Court "found that Xu received financial aid from hostile foreign organizations starting in 2001, and joined illegal organizations aimed at subverting the Chinese government," according to a Xinhua article reprinted on the China Radio International Web site.

The Chongqing No. 1 Intermediate People's Court sentenced Xu Wanping on December 21, 2005, to 12 years imprisonment in connection with joining the CDP, assisting with CDP organizational activities, and distributing articles on the Internet that criticized the leadership of the Communist Party, according to a court decision dated December 21, 2005, (posted on Boxun) and a December 24, 2005, Human Rights in China (HRIC) press release. The court convicted Xu of "subversion of state power," a crime under Article 105(1) of China's Criminal Law. HRIC reports that Chinese authorities detained Xu on March 30, 2005, and formally charged him on May 24. They denied Xu access to his family and legal counsel during his detention, failed to open Xu’s trial proceedings to the public, and refused to provide a copy of Xu’s indictment to his family and lawyer. Xu previously served eight years in prison as the result of his participation in the 1989 Tiananmen democracy protests, and was sentenced in 1998 to three years of reeducation through labor for disturbing public order.