Court reconsiders China blogger verdict

HOHHOT, China, April 23 (UPI) -- A Chinese court says it is reviewing whether a libel verdict against a blogger who exposed alleged land acquisition problems was arrived at fairly.

The Erdos Intermediate People's Court in northern China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region confirmed to the Chinese news agency Xinhua that it has launched an internal review to examine whether the libel trial of Wu Baoquan followed correct procedures.

Wu was sentenced to a two-year jail term this month, drawing protests from fellow bloggers who questioned why police devoted so many resources to pursuing him for two years merely because he exposed local land acquisition problems.

"It is outrageous," Xinhua quoted one blogger, identified as "hndn," as writing on the Cat898 forum. "Government officials can forge a libel crime against an online petition. Attending Wu's case is to safeguard our speech rights on the Internet."

The news agency said Wu, 39, was charged for slandering Yun Feng, a former Communist Party of China official, after posting an online article in 2007 accusing Yun of responsibility in a land dispute that allegedly infringed on farmers' rights.