DEMOCRACY: Lee’s wife lauded him for fighting for the rights of the underprivileged, while rights group warned of Beijing’s move to extend its jurisdiction to Taiwan
Taipei Times
Date: Nov 29, 2017
By: Chen Wei-han / Staff reporter, with AP
A Chinese court yesterday sentenced Taiwanese human rights advocate Lee Ming-che
A woman ties a yellow ribbon for democracy campaigner Lee Ming-che in Taipei yesterday. Photo: David Chang, EPA
(李明哲) to five years in prison for holding online political lectures and helping the families of jailed dissidents in a conviction demonstrating how Beijing’s harshest crackdown on human rights in decades has extended beyond China.
Lee’s trial was also China’s first known criminal prosecution of a nonprofit worker since Beijing passed a law in April last year tightening controls over foreign non-governmental organizations.
Lee went missing on March 19 after entering Zhuhai, Guang Province, from Macau. China did not announce his arrest until 10 days later.
The Yueyang City Intermediate People’s Court in Hunan Province handed down the sentence after finding Lee guilty of subversion of state power. [FULL STORY]
