{"id":1584372,"date":"2024-04-01T16:39:50","date_gmt":"2024-04-01T16:39:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rfa.org\/english\/news\/china\/tortured-rights-activist-04012024122823.html"},"modified":"2024-04-01T16:39:50","modified_gmt":"2024-04-01T16:39:50","slug":"china-court-jails-tortured-rights-activist-xu-qin-for-four-years-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/2024\/04\/01\/china-court-jails-tortured-rights-activist-xu-qin-for-four-years-2\/","title":{"rendered":"China court jails \u2018tortured\u2019 rights activist Xu Qin for four years"},"content":{"rendered":"\n \n
Authorities in the eastern Chinese province of Jiangsu have handed a four-year jail term to veteran rights activist Xu Qin, after repeatedly delaying her trial and sentencing despite concerns over her deteriorating health, and amid reports of torture from a prominent rights group.<\/span><\/p>\n The Yangzhou Intermediate People's Court sentenced Xu, a key figure in the Wuhan-based China Rights Observer group founded by <\/span>jailed veteran dissident Qin Yongmin<\/span><\/a>, to four years' imprisonment on March 29 for \"incitement to subvert state power,\" a charge frequently used to target peaceful critics of the ruling Chinese Communist Party, the Civil Rights and Livelihood Watch rights website reported.<\/span><\/p>\n It quoted Xu as telling the sentencing hearing: \"I'd like to thank everyone for their care and support, and also thank my husband for his help and support. Regardless of whether it\u2019s futile or not, I must appeal. This is my right.\"<\/span><\/p>\n An award-winning activist in a number of high-profile human rights cases, including that of detained <\/span>human rights lawyer Yu Wensheng<\/span><\/a>, Xu was detained under \"residential surveillance at a designated location\" in 2021, a form of incommunicado detention rights groups say puts detainees at greater risk of torture and mistreatment.<\/span><\/p>\n Her family told RFA in earlier interviews that Xu is a stroke and heart attack survivor who suffers from high blood pressure, among other ailments.<\/span><\/p>\n But according to the Civil Rights and Livelihood Watch rights website, many of Xu's health problems were caused by her torture and mistreatment in detention.<\/span><\/p>\n \"During her detention and interrogation, Xu Qin was brutally tortured to extract a confession, and was held in solitary confinement for a long period of time,\" the website said in a report about her sentencing published on Sunday.<\/span><\/p>\n \"Xu already suffered from multiple health problems including stroke, heart attack and hypertension, and as a result [of the torture], she was left paralyzed and unable to stand,\" it said.<\/span><\/p>\n Since she was locked up in the detention center, Xu has <\/span>started using a wheelchair<\/span><\/a>, according to her lawyer.<\/span><\/p>\n