A Beijing court sentenced a respected Chinese rights lawyer to 12 years jail time on Sept. 22 for what he says is political persecution.
Beijing No. 2 Intermediate People's Court handed down the sentence to Xia Lin, 46, who pleaded not guilty to a charge of fraud, reported RFA.
"This is retaliation for the cases I have defended!" Xia shouted as he left the court.
Xia has taken cases on behalf of artist Ai Weiwei, Sichuan earthquake rights activist Tan Zuoren and rights lawyer Pu Zhiqiang.
A researcher for Amnesty International, Patrick Poon, told RFA that the government had no legal basis for imprisoning Xia who had been detained by Beijing police since November 2014.
Xia's arrest and imprisonment is seen as part of President Xi Jinping's "stability maintenance" program, which has resulted in scores of rights defenders and their families being jailed or restricted over the past several years.