China’s First ‘Cyber Dissident’ Jailed For 12 Years

Beijing: A court here on Monday sentenced China’s first “cyber dissident”, whose website reported on human rights, to 12 years in prison on charges of leaking national state secrets and giving them to foreign entities. Huang Qi, 56, is the founder of 64 Tianwang - the first human rights monitoring website in the country - which documents enforced disappearances and human trafficking. It has also served as a platform for dissident voices. The Intermediate People’s Court of the central city of Mianyang announced the sentence on its website, adding that Huang will also be deprived of political rights for four years and that it imposed a 20,000-yuan ($2,900) fine. (IANS)

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