China sentences quake activist to 5 years' jail

The United States deplored the sentence handed down to Tan Zuoren by a court in southwestern Sichuan province, saying such convictions were politically motivated and urging China to immediately release the activist and others similarly prosecuted.

Attorney Pu Zhiqiang said Tan was convicted and sentenced Tuesday by the Chengdu Intermediate Court. Tan's trial in August had concluded with no ruling, during which police detained and threatened his supporters.

The conviction of inciting subversion of state power was based on Tan's activities in recent years to draw attention to the 1989 student-led demonstrations in Beijing's Tiananmen Square that ended in a deadly military crackdown. China routinely uses such broad and vaguely defined charges of subversion to imprison dissidents, sometimes for years.

But Tan's supporters and human rights groups believe authorities were trying to silence him for his investigation into the collapse of schools in the 7.9-magnitude earthquake that struck in Sichuan province in May 2008, leaving almost 90,000 dead or missing. Tan estimated at least 5,600 students were among the dead, while a figure released by the government last May put the count at 5,335.

Tan, 56, started his investigation in December 2008 and hoped to complete it before the May 12 anniversary of the quake the following year, but he was detained in late March.

“Tan thinks one of the reasons behind this case is that he was leading an investigation into the poorly built schools after the earthquake, which would have embarrassed the local government in Chengdu,” Pu said.

Critics allege that shoddy construction, enabled by corruption, caused several schools to collapse while buildings nearby remained intact - a politically sensitive theory that the government has tried to quash, fearing it could undermine the admiration and goodwill it earned after its massive rescue effort.

But activists and parents - many of whom lost their only children in the quake - have repeatedly demanded those responsible for shoddy construction be investigated and punished. Those who've pressed the issue have been detained, harassed and threatened by police and thugs believed to be hired by local officials.

Pu said Tan would appeal the court's verdict, which centered around Tan's questioning of how authorities handled the 1989 Tiananmen protests: an essay he had written about it in 2007 and a blood drive in 2008 he had organized with others in Chengdu to commemorate the anniversary.

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