A Chinese legal rights activist was sentenced to 7 ½ years in prison on subversion charges Wednesday, in the second in a series of cases underscoring the ruling Communist Party's determination to rein in government critics. Both were arrested in July last year with two others as part of a nationwide crackdown on legal rights activists. "After completing his criminal punishment, Hu Shigen again committed crimes against national security and, as a recidivist, should be severely punished under the law," prosecutors said. More than a dozen other lawyers and activists remain jailed, their legal status uncertain. His brief trial came a day after the court issued a suspended three-year sentence to activist Zhai Yanmin.

Source: Fox News August 03, 2016 05:49 UTC