China: 18 months hard labour for woman who spoke out

A woman who posted an article on the internet criticising the way China’s government handles public complaints has been sentenced to 18 months in a labour camp, a human rights group said in Shanghai.

Ma Yalian used several Chinese legal affairs web sites to post the article documenting her fruitless efforts to petition over the destruction of her Shanghai home, New York-based Human Rights in China said in a statement.

Ma described police violence and harassment of her and other petitioners, the group said. She said some protested by committing suicide outside government offices.

HRIC said Ma was sentenced by Shanghai’s Re-education Through Labour Management Committee which accused her of “falsely accusing Shanghai authorities of causing her physical injury”, and having “turned petitioning into pestering”.

Shanghai police said they had no information about Ma.

Chinese law permits committees to sentence people to up to three years in labour camps without trial. Intended to punish minor criminals, prostitutes and drug addicts, the system is also frequently used to silence political and religious dissenters.