Chinese rights activist jailed for 6 years

Hong Kong: A prominent Chinese rights activist, Guo Feixiong, was sentenced to six years imprisonment today by a court in southern China, amid a continuing crackdown on human rights advocates across the country, his lawyer said today.

Two other activists, Liu Yuandong and Sun Desheng, were sentenced to three years and two-and-a-half years respectively, according to Guo's lawyer, Zhang Lei.

Guo and Sun had been accused of "gathering crowds to disturb social order" during a nearly week-long peaceful demonstration outside the gates of a newspaper, the Southern Weekly, in January 2013. The protest called on authorities to respect media freedoms amid a censorship row.

"He wasn't guilty of anything at all. This sentence is unacceptable and unfair," Zhang told Reuters by telephone after attending the court on Friday. Guo had previously been jailed for nearly five years for his grassroots activism.