BEIJING: Two prominent Chinese human rights lawyers, including one who had called for President Xi Jinping to resign, have been jailed for over a decade, an advocacy group and one of the men's wives said on Monday.
Xu Zhiyong and fellow campaigner Ding Jiaxi were convicted of 'subversion of state power' following closed-door trials.Both were leading figures in the New Citizens' Movement, a civil rights group that called for constitutional reform and criticized government corruption.Xu, who called for Xi to step down over his handling of the coronavirus pandemic, was jailed for 14 years after a closed-door trial in eastern Shandong province, advocacy group Human Rights Watch said.
Civil liberties and freedom of expression have receded even further under Xi's decadelong tenure, rights groups say.Ding was detained in December 2019 after attending a secret meeting involving human rights activists and lawyers, including Xu in southeastern Fujian province.His wife has said she was 'incredibly worried' that he might have been tortured in detention.
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