China convicted its fourth dissident in a week yesterday, jailing a veteran trade union activist for 10 years for passing information on rural unrest to the US-backed Radio Free Asia, a human rights group said.
The court in central Hunan province also stripped Mr Zhang Shanguang of his political rights for five years for telling Radio Free Asia about farmers' protests, according to the New York-based Human Rights in China.
The Huaihua Intermediate Court took 30 minutes after a trial lasting two hours and 20 minutes to sentence Mr Zhang, who was escorted to the court building by a convoy of 20 police vehicles. The sentencing follows the jailings of three founders of a banned opposition party and the issuing of an anti-subversion decree in line with an order by President Jiang Zemin that all threats to stability be "resolutely nipped in the bud".
Mr Zhang's case "clearly shows that the second wave of repression of democracy activists will soon get under way", the Hong Kong-based Information Centre of Human Rights and Democratic Movement in China said in a statement.
The Huaihua court did not answer reporters' telephone calls. On Friday, court officials confirmed that Mr Zhang would undergo a closed-door trial yesterday, a day when public offices are normally closed.
In an interview with Radio Free Asia in March, Mr Zhang spoke of a demonstration by about 80 farmers in Hunan's Xupu county against excessive taxes, and of another protest which resulted in deadly violence, Human Rights in China said.
Mr Zhang, who served seven years in prison for a prior conviction based on his role in pro-democracy demonstrations in 1989, is the fourth opposition figure to receive a lengthy sentence in the year-end crackdown on dissent.
In Hong Kong, democracy activists marched to China's official Xinhua News Agency office yesterday and presented a petition demanding the release of the three jailed dissidents.
The stiff sentences come amid a nationwide campaign to crush dissent. President Jiang warned in two speeches recently that subversive activities would not be tolerated and said China would never accept Western-style democracy.