This Centre has learned that a court in Shenzhen rejected an appeal on the grounds of mental illness submitted by 20 year old Xue Mingkai. Sentence will be pronounced against him at the end of the month for "subverting state power." According to the law and the sentences in other cases, he will be sentenced to 10 years or more in prison. This Centre has also learned that three people in the same case, Zhang Jun, Wu Shilong, and Chen Mianping, have been arrested and tried for "subversion," in Liaoning, Hunan, and Hubei, respectively. The three have not yet been sentenced.
Twenty year old Xue was a worker in a Hong Kong invested factory in Shenzhen. He was arrested in May of this year and accused of "subversion." Authorities say he joined the overseas China Democratic Party, and recommended that Zhang Jun, Wu Shilong, and Chen Mianping join too. Xue's family produced evidence that he is mentally ill, but yesterday a court in Shenzhen announced the evaluation of the Guangdong Institute of Mental Health and Mental Illness, which was that Xue Mingkai had indeed suffered from mental illness in the past, but he had recovered by the time he applied to join the China Democratic Party. Xue Mingkai's father Xue Fusheng told this Centre that sentence in the case will be pronounced at the end of December. According to the law and legal precedent, he will be sentenced to at least 10 years in prison.
This Centre has learned that three other people in the case, Zhang Jun, Wu Shilong, and Chen Mianping, have been tried in Liaoning, Hunan, and Hubei, respectively. Wu Shilong was a college student, and Zhang Jun and Chen Mianping were workers. They also face severe penalties of 10 years or more in prison.
Huang Qi was given severe punishment, and legal proceedings were brought against Liu Xiaobo very quickly. That and the severe punishment of 10 years in prison for "subversion" which the four including Xue Mingkai and Zhang Jun face show the sharp deterioration in the human rights situation in China.

Source: Information Centre for Human Rights and Democracy, Hong Kong