BEIJING • A Chinese human rights activist who went by the online name « Super Vulgar Butcher » and made public shaming of officials a raucous art form was sent to prison for eight years after a court declared him guilty of subversion yesterday following a secretive trial..
BEIJING • A Chinese human rights activist who went by the online name « Super Vulgar Butcher » and made public shaming of officials a raucous art form was sent to prison for eight years after a court declared him guilty of subversion yesterday following a secretive trial.
It is the harshest sentence to be passed so far in a government crackdown on activism that began more than two years ago.
The activist, whose real name is Wu Gan, became renowned among human rights advocates for helping organise boisterous protests outside courthouses and government offices to support plaintiffs and defendants who accused officials of abusing their power.
Wu, easily recognised by his shaven head and goatee, relied on social media, a wide and fluid network of online supporters and abrasive mockery to spread his message.
The verdict underlined how under President Xi Jinping, determined activists like Wu, who once survived at the edges of official tolerance, have come under concerted attack from police, prosecutors and courts, with state news media often acting as a cheerleader.
The court in Tianjin, a port city near Beijing, where Wu was tried and convicted, said that he had « used ‘rights defence’ and ‘performance art’ as a ploy » to « seriously harm national security and social stability », according to an official summary of the verdict.
« For a long time, Wu Gan used the Internet to disseminate voluminous statements attacking state power and the constitutionally established state order, and he promoted the idea of ‘toppling the wall’ through subversion of state power, » the court said.
