Chinese Activist Liu Shaoming jailed for writing account of 1989 Tiananmen crackdown

Beijing: A prominent Chinese labour activist was sentenced on Friday to four and a half years in prison for “inciting subversion” through a written account of the 1989 Tiananmen crackdown, his lawyer told AFP. Liu Shaoming, a former factory worker, was detained in southern Guangdong province in May 2015 after describing his involvement in the pro-democracy movement on a United States website. Liu’s lawyer, Wu Kuiming, told AFP the verdict was announced by the Guangzhou Intermediate People’s Court. [caption id=“attachment_1572923” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Cleaners walk past an area shielded by green nets in front of Tiananmen Gate in 2013. AP[/caption] “His crime is ‘inciting subversion of state power,’” Wu said. “The evidence is some online articles he wrote to recall the 4 June event.” Wu said they will appeal the court decision. Several Chinese rights advocates have been jailed for trying to keep alive the memory of the Tiananmen Square pro-democracy movement that was crushed by the military. Hundreds of civilians — over 1,000 by some estimates — are believed to have died in the crackdown. Liu, who was featured earlier this year in the documentary “We the Workers,” travelled to Beijing to join the student-led demonstrations. According to Amnesty International, he was also a member of China’s first independent trade union. “This is a most callous and unjust verdict against Liu Shaoming,” William Nee, China researcher at Amnesty International, said in a statement. “He is a prisoner of conscience and must be immediately and unconditionally released. All that Liu Shaoming is guilty of is the legitimate exercise of his freedom of expression.”