China jails blind rights activist for over 4 years

BEIJING (Reuters) - A Chinese court jailed a blind human rights campaigner for four years and three months on Thursday, state media announced, prompting other activists to warn of a clampdown on China's "rights defenders."

Chen Guangcheng, who was tried last Friday without his own lawyers present, drew international attention last year by accusing officials in east China's Shandong province of enforcing late-term abortions in a population control drive.

Chen, 34, was charged with damaging property and disrupting traffic after a protest erupted in his home Dongshigu village in February, but his family and lawyers said the charges were concocted.

The verdict from Yinan County Court in Shandong came as a shock to Chen's wife, Yuan Weijing, who had not been notified by the court.

"I thought they were going to sentence him even though he's innocent, but I never expected such a heavy sentence," she told Reuters. "Even if he was guilty, the damage they said happened was small and the law says blind people should be given leniency."

The brief announcement of the verdict by the official Xinhua news agency did not say whether Chen had appealed or if he could expect clemency because of his disability.

In Washington, State Department spokesman Gonzalo Gallegos condemned Chen's jailing on "questionable charges" and called on Beijing to release him and stop harassing his family.

"We are concerned that Chen's arrest, the detention of his lawyers and the reported detention of another activist Gao Zhisheng appear part of a larger pattern of official harassment of individuals working to advocate for the legal rights of their fellow citizens," Gallegos told reporters.

Yuan said three other villagers also arrested for the February protest were quietly released on Thursday. Police had pressured them to provide testimony against Chen, and they each received sentences of seven months dated from the time of arrest, she said.

The Yinan court and police would not comment.

CLAMP DOWN

Chinese activists said the unexpectedly heavy sentence indicated officials are clamping down on "rights defenders" -- a growing network of lawyers, academics and dissidents seeking to expand freedoms through litigation and Internet-driven campaigns for legal reform.

Chen had educated himself in the law and campaigned for farmers' and blind citizens' rights.

"This sentence was at the extreme of what anybody ever imagined," said Hu Jia, a Beijing dissident now under house arrest. "It's another attack on the rights defense movement, like the detention of Gao Zhisheng."

Gao, an outspoken human rights lawyer who has campaigned for the banned Falun Gong spiritual group, was detained by Beijing police after months of being followed by them.

Chen's attorney, Xu Zhiyong, said Chinese courts were supposed to notify the defendant's family and lawyers before a verdict, but they were given no warning.

"We'll certainly appeal against the sentence. Chen Guangcheng is adamant that he's innocent," Xu said. "The trial was absurd, and now to have such a heavy sentence delivered this way is just unacceptable."

Xu and two other defense lawyers were detained on charges of theft as they prepared to defend Chen last week. The court appointed two stand-in lawyers shortly before the trial.

At a July hearing that was canceled at the last minute, supporters of Chen said they were beaten by police and hired thugs.

Other Chinese rights activists who have campaigned for Chen's release have been put under house arrest in Beijing, deported from there to distant cities, or gone into hiding. Chen's wife, Yuan, said officials restrict her movements to around their home village. (Additional reporting by Vivi Lin and Sue Pleming in Washington)