Chinese activist gets 3 years in jail

BEIJING, Nov. 23 (UPI) -- A Chinese blogger and activist, who sought to help parents of children killed in the 2008 earthquake, was sentenced to three years in jail, his wife said.

Zeng li, wife of Huang Qi, 46, told The New York Times in a telephone interview he was sentenced by a court in Chengdu, capital of Sichuan province which was devastated in the June 2008 earthquake in which many children died after their school buildings collapsed.

Huang had helped the victims' parents to file their grievances about the construction of those schools.

Huang's lawyer Mo Shaoping said the court gave his client the maximum sentence for "illegally holding secret state documents," CNN reported. The sentencing came despite earlier protest by the U.S. State Department against Huang's detention, the report said.

Huang is the founder of the human rights Web site 64Tianwang. The CNN quoted Reporters Without Borders as saying Huang had posted articles on the earthquake relief efforts.

The Times of London said Huang's court hearing lasted only 10 minutes. The report, citing official Chinese figures, said the earthquake killed more than 87,000 people which included 5,335 children.

"They still won't say what the specific charge is, not even at the verdict. They just spoke of documents related to a certain matter," Huang's wife was quoted as saying.

"I think it was revenge for the earthquake, and his other work. But the court would not even give me a copy of the verdict," she added. Her husband plans to appeal, she said.

The New York Times quoted fellow activists as saying Huang's sentencing points to the determination of the Chinese authorities to put down any dissent that questions issues such poor construction of schools.