NYT/Reuters: Blind Chinese Activist Appeals "Unlawful" Sentence

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Blind Chinese Activist Appeals "Unlawful" Sentence
By REUTERS
Published: September 3, 2006

BEIJING (Reuters) - A blind Chinese human rights activist whose jailing last month sparked an international outcry has filed an appeal, asserting authorities stifled his defense and apparently coerced witnesses into testifying against him.

Chen Guangcheng attracted world attention last year after issuing a report that said officials in east China's Shandong province had enforced a brutal population control drive.

On August 24, Chen was sentenced by Yinan County court in Shandong to over 4 years' jail for damaging property and obstructing traffic in a February protest. His family and lawyers maintain the charges were trumped up to silence him.

In an appeal sent to the Yinan court on Friday and issued to reporters on Sunday, Chen said authorities beat and detained his lawyers and used witnesses who were probably tortured....

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Chinese activists said the unexpectedly heavy sentence against Chen showed officials are clamping down on "rights defenders'' -- a network of lawyers and activists seeking to expand freedoms through litigation and Internet-driven campaigns....

http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/world/international-china-rights.html