China rights activist sentenced to 5 years for subversion News
China rights activist sentenced to 5 years for subversion

[JURIST] A Chinese court sentenced land rights activist Yang Chunlin [Amnesty profile] to five years in prison Monday on charges of "inciting subversion of state power" [JURIST report] for circulating a petition declaring "we want human rights, not the Olympics," which was signed by over 10,000 people before Yang was arrested in July 2007. The Beijing Olympics [official website] are scheduled to begin in August 2008. A Chinese human rights group reported that police used electric batons to restrain Yang as he attempted to communicate with family members after the sentencing hearing. Yang, a former factory worker, is also known for his support of a legal case brought against the government by more than 40,000 local farmers who say that their land was taken by the government without compensation. AP has more.

In August 2007, Human Rights Watch reported that China, fearing that activists will embarrass the ruling Communist party by highlighting political and social problems during the Games, is clamping down on human rights activists [press release; JURIST report] and other political dissidents as well as silencing independent media coverage. Rights group Dui Hua [advocacy website] reported in November 2007 that the number of political arrests in China more than doubled in 2006 [JURIST report].

THIS DAY @ LAW

38 Santee Sioux hanged by US for rebellion

On December 26, 1862, 38 Santee Sioux men were hanged in a mass execution for their roles in a rebellion against US authorities in Minnesota which left hundreds dead and made refugees of some 40,000 white settlers. Government annuities promised under a treaty with the Sioux had failed to arrive on schedule and credit for purchases was not advanced in the meantime, threatening the tribe with starvation. The Santee Sioux Tribe's members were deported first to South Dakota and ultimately to Nebraska, where they remain today. Learn more about the 1862 Minnesota Sioux Rebellion.

Louis XVI put on trial during French Revolution

On December 26, 1792, Romain de Sèze, a defense attorney for deposed King Louis XVI, presented a defense of his client. The former King was on trial before a French Revolutionary court on thirty-three charges, including treason and other crimes against the state. He was convicted on January 15, 1793 executed by guillotine on the following January 21.