China jails rights advocate after prolonged detention: watchdog

Human Rights in China, a New York-based human rights watchdog, on Wednesday condemned China's sentencing of a rights advocate to five years in prison for having committed ''illegal business activities.''

The group said in a statement that rights defender Guo Feixiong, also known as Yang Maodong, was convicted by a Guangzhou court in southern China's Guangdong Province for his publication of a book that exposes political scandals in Shenyang, capital of northeastern Liaoning Province.

''The imposition of this heavy sentence for what appears to be a politically motivated prosecution has a chilling effect on other rights defenders and undermines China's efforts to build a rule of law,'' group executive director Sharon Hom said in the statement.

The group said Guo was detained and beaten on a number of occasions in 2005 and 2006 before he was formally arrested in September last year. Guo has provided legal advice to victims in a number of controversial rights defense cases.

Guo was said to be sentenced to five years in prison and fined 40,000 yuan (about $5,300).

The group also quoted Guo's lawyers as saying that since being officially detained he has been subjected to severe physical abuse and round-the-clock interrogation.

Guo helped villagers in Taishi village in Guangdong Province to recall their leader for alleged corruption in 2005. He also helped villagers in Dongzhou village in the same province who blockaded a power plant over a land claim dispute, which ended after police opened fire at hundreds of protesters, killing at least three villagers.