Beijing Court Jails Dissident on Subversion Charges

One of China's best-known dissidents was jailed for three and a half years on subversion charges yesterday.

Human rights groups said the case of Hu Jia, 34, reflected a systematic crackdown on critics ahead of the Beijing games, and he was the third activist to be convicted on the same charge in two months.

They urged the International Olympic Committee - currently meeting organizers in Beijing - to demand freedom of expression for activists.

The US criticized Hu's sentence and the EU called for his immediate release. A spokesman for the UN's high commissioner for human rights said it seemed national security issues were being used to curtail social activism.

Hu's activism started with campaigning for better care for Aids patients and he has since pursued issues ranging from democratic rights to self-determination for Tibet.

The Beijing number one intermediate people's court found him guilty of "inciting subversion of state power" in internet articles and interviews with foreign reporters.

Amnesty International said the case betrayed Chinese promises that human rights would improve in the run-up to the Olympics, while Human Rights Watch accused the IOC of complacency.