Amnesty report:

Jin Haike, Xu Wei, Yang Zili and Zhang Honghai (靳海科, 徐伟, 杨子立 and 张宏海 respectively) were sentenced on 28 May 2003 each to prison terms of between eight and ten years after posting articles of political and social concern on the Internet.

They four were detained on 13 March 2001 and charged with “subverting state power and the overthrow of the socialist system” after they set up the New Youth Study Group (Xin Qingnian Xuehui, 新青年学会), an organization which advocated social and democratic reform, including the promotion and observance of democratic voting procedures in the election of village committees.

BBC Report:

The Beijing Intermediate People’s Court sentenced geologist Jin Haike, 27, and Xu Wei, a 28-year-old journalist for Beijing’s Consumer Daily, to 10 years each in prison.

Yang Zili, a 31-year-old computer engineer, and Zhang Honghai, a 29-year-old freelance writer, were each given eight years.

The men, who have already been in custody for 20 months, had set up an internet-based group, the New Youth Society, which was dedicated to exploring democracy and social reform.

This campaign aims to secure their immediate release.

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