A Chinese court jailed prominent rights lawyer Wang Quanzhang for four-and-a-half years for taking on cases deemed sensitive by Chinese authorities.
Lawyer Wang Quanzhang took the cases of police torture accusations, and missing people.
He was also dealing with the cases of the banned Falun Gong spiritual movement.
Chinese authorities crackdown on rights activists and lawyers.
Releasing a verdict, the Tianjin Number 2 Intermediate People’s Court said Wang had been found guilty.
Wang could not be contacted for comment.
After Wang’s Dec. 26 hearing,
The United Nations has asked Chinese authorities to ensure his rights are respected.
The U.N. said are serious human rights concerns about the way Wang’s case had been handled.
A Hong Kong-based Human Rights Watch researcher said the verdict makes a mockery of Chinese President Xi Jinping’s claims to champion the rule of law.
