Epoch Times
By Gu Yunyin

A 55 year-old Sichuan man, Tan Zuoren, has been sentenced to five years in jail plus three years deprivation of political rights by the Chengdu Intermediate Court. This conviction for inciting subversion of state power comes after his arrest while probing into the details of the shoddy “tofu waste” school buildings’ as revealed through the 2008 Sichuan earthquake. Mr. Tan’s legal counsel and wife plan to appeal.

The trial started at 9:30 a.m. and lasted for five minutes, in which Mr. Tan’s wife and two daughters were not allowed to enter the courtroom. Additionally, the over 200 supporters from Qinghai, Hunan, Beijing and other cities gathered outside the court were dispersed by local Chengdu police.

Before the trial, journalists from Hong Kong and Taiwan, attempting to conduct interviews, were interfered with by local police and had their cell phones taken away and not returned until video footage inside had been deleted.

Pu Zhiqiang, Mr. Tan’s defense lawyer, told The Epoch Times, “He was indicted for two reasons; one is for his publishing an article called “Witness The Last Beauty” to commemorate the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre on fireofliberty.org. Another is because he suggested a blood donations campaign for the Sichuan earthquake victims in Tiananmen Square to keep the June 4th spirit alive and was interviewed by Sound of Hope radio station.” According to Pu, Beijing authorities regard those activities as hazardous to its power, so he was charged with the crime of “inciting subversion of state power.”

Democracy activist Chen Yunfei and Chengdu writer Ran Yunfei, both of whom had previously expressed support for Mr. Tan, were under house arrest and unable to attend the trial.

Mr. Ran derided the sentence as “ridiculous,” yet unsurprising, given that the authorities “are capable of doing anything.” At the same time, he said “I cannot accept this kind of outcome at all.”    more …