Washington: Senior US lawmaker Nancy Pelosi on Friday criticised China over a 10-year sentence handed to prominent democracy activist Liu Xianbin and urged his immediate release.
Pelosi, the top member of President Barack Obama's Democratic Party in the House of Representatives, said that the jailing showed a "fundamental disregard for the rule of law and human rights in China”.
"The Chinese government should immediately and unconditionally release Liu Xianbin from prison and heed the calls of the Chinese people for government transparency, an end to corruption and respect for free expression in China," said Pelosi, a longtime critic of Beijing's human rights record.
Liu, 43, was prosecuted for "inciting subversion of state power" after he published pro-democracy articles online, his wife Chen Mingxian said. He was detained last June.
The sentence came amid an intense crackdown on dissidents in the community country amid the "Jasmine" pro-democracy protests in the Arab world.
Bureau Report
First Published: Saturday, March 26, 2011, 13:51