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Nine Months For Dissent

In a fit of paranoia stemming from the recent uprisings of the Arab Spring, the Chinese government has launched a harsh crackdown on critics and dissidents. One of the victims of the ambush, Chinese rights activist Wang Lihong, was recently sentenced to nine months in prison for “stirring up trouble.”

55-year-old Wang, one of many activists, dissidents, and lawyers who were detained earlier this year in the Fujian province, was jailed for attending a demonstration outside a courthouse during the trial of three other activists.

Qi Jianxiang, Wang’s son, said that his mother was simply helping to fight for people’s rights. At her hearing in Beijing, Wang maintained her innocence and reiterated that she had committed no crime.

According to Wang’s son, in response to his mother’s plea of innocence, the judge told Wang, “That is your understanding.”

Wang’s last comment to her son before being taken away, “say ‘hello’ to the Internet,” a reference to the rapidly changing way in which information is disseminated in China, and the changes it’s bringing to the communist nation.

Read more at BBC News.