CHINA: CHINESE DISSIDENT WANG DAN'S APPEAL AGAINST HIS PRISON SENTENCE REJECTED BY CHINESE COURT

Record ID: 649396

  • Title: CHINA: CHINESE DISSIDENT WANG DAN'S APPEAL AGAINST HIS PRISON SENTENCE REJECTED BY CHINESE COURT
  • Date: 14th November 1996
  • Summary: BEIJING, CHINA (NOVEMBER 14, 1996) (RTV) LV OF INTERNATIONAL HERALD TRIBUNE CHINA SUMMIT/ AUDIENCE CLAPPING (2 SHOTS) 1.19 SLV MARGARET THATCHER ON PODIUM 1.24 MCU FORMER PRIME MINISTER OF GREAT BRITAIN MARGARET THATCHER SAYING "AND I HAVE TO SAY, MY FRIENDS, THAT THE RECENT HARSH SENTENCES IMPOSED ON MR. WEI AND MR. WANG HAVE CAUSED DISMAY IN THE WIDER WORLD" (ENGLISH) 1.38 LV AUDIENCE LISTENING 1.43 Initials Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved.
  • Embargoed: 29th November 1996 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: BEIJING, CHINA
  • Country: China
  • Topics: General
  • Reuters ID: LVA7ZG50HCZTQULI5CJUM3NP3UIU
  • Story Text: Chinese dissident Wang Dan's appeal against his prison sentence has been rejected by a Chinese court.
    -------------------------------------------------------------------- A Chinese court on Friday (November 15) took 10 minutes to reject the appeal of dissident Wang Dan and uphold an 11-year prison sentence for subversion.
    Angry family members staged a one-hour sit-down protest in front of the court after the Beijing Higher People's Court rejected Wang's appeal against his conviction.
    The 27-year-old dissident was not allowed to speak at the hearing as a judge read from a brief, prepared statement.
    Wang was convicted of plotting to subvert the government by publishing articles in foreign publications and receiving funds from hostile overseas organisations.
    The dissident has now exhausted the appeals process.
    Police earlier kept reporters away from the court building, the family's home and a nearby subway station.
    Wang, a former student leader, had already served four years in prison for his role in student demonstrations for democracy that were crushed by the army in 1989.
    Beijing has slammed Western criticism of its human rights record as interference in its internal affairs.
    Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Cui Tiankai told a briefing on Thursday that the appeal of dissident Wang Dan against his 11-year trial had no bearing on Sino-U.S. relations because it involved a Chinese citizen, not an American.
    "The man involved, Wang Dan is a Chinese and not an American so I don't believe that this case has anything to do with the Sino-American relations," Cui said.
    The European Parliament on Thursday demanded Wang be freed.
    Former British prime minister Margaret Thatcher said in Beijing on Thursday that the world was dismayed by harsh sentences slapped on Wang and fellow dissident Wei Jingsheng, widely known as the father of China's modern democracy movement.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2015. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
  • Usage Terms/Restrictions: None
Register