Chinese activist Wu Gan sentenced to 8 years of imprisonment for subversion

China's prominent human rights activist Wu Gan, who is also known as Super Vulgar Butcher, was sentenced to eight years of imprisonment for subversion.

The court in Tianjin said he was "dissatisfied with the current system of governance, and that gradually produced thoughts of subverting state power."

He "spread fake information" and "insulted others online," the court alleged.

44-year-old Wu, who was arrested more than two years ago as part of a sweeping crackdown on human rights lawyers and activists is the latest campaigner to be jailed. The crackdown saw nearly 250 people questioned or detained by authorities, reported the Guardian.

Convicting Wu, the court in Tianjin said, "Wu Gan has long used information networks to spread a great deal of rhetoric and to attack state power and the system established by the constitution."

"[They] use 'defending rights' and 'performance arts' as a disguise. to defame state institutions and attack the national system set by the constitution," the court said, in a verdict posted online on Tuesday.

Before his trial, Wu predicted a harsh sentencing for refusing to cooperate with the authorities.

Predicting a harsh sentencing for himself, Wu, ahead of his trial in August, in a statement released through his lawyers, said, "I will be convicted not because I am really guilty, but because of my refusal to accept a government-appointed lawyer, plead guilty in a televised propaganda confession, and for exposing torture, mistreatment and violence and prosecutorial misconduct.
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