Chinese lawyer Yu Wensheng, who openly advocated for constitutional reform in China, was sentenced Wednesday by a Chinese court to four years in prison for "inciting subversion," Hong Kong media reported.

The Apple Daily quoted Yu Wensheng's wife, Xu Yan, as saying in a taped recording that the procuratorate office in Xuzhou, Jiangsu Province, notified her that Yu was convicted and sentenced Wednesday morning to four years in prison and stripped of political rights for three years.

Captured by police in January 2018 in Beijing, Yu stood trial in secret proceedings in May last year for "inciting subversion of state power." He was not allowed to meet with his wife or lawyers.

"(The authorities) held a trial secretly, and now they lay down a judgment secretly, breaching legal rules, without informing the family or anyone, and without regard for the rule of law," Xu said.

She said Yu protested the conviction and insisted on his innocence, and that he will file for an appeal.

"I beg for international help, such illegal and oppressive behavior by China must be stopped," Xu said, adding that the secret trial and conviction of Yu are proof that China encroaches on freedom of speech.

Yu's law firm was shut down, and his license to practice law was revoked in January 2018 after he publicized speeches opposing Communist Party rule.

Also, in an open letter, issued on the opening in January of the second plenary session of the Chinese Communist Party's 19th Central Committee, Yu suggested removing the preamble of the Constitution, which he said enshrines the party's right to remain in power. He also called for the president to be elected, and abolishing the position of chairman, the central military commission, and the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference.

In another open letter issued in October last year, Yu called for President Xi Jinping to be removed from office and for an overhaul of China's political system.

In 2014, Yu was detained by mainland police for 99 days after he voiced support for Hong Kong's "Occupy Central" movement that saw hundreds of thousands of people occupy streets in the territory for 79 days to press for the government leader to be freely elected.

Yu has also criticized the Communist Party over its crackdown on human rights lawyers and political activists, with hundreds detained and dozens arrested since 2015.

In 2016, Yu volunteered to represent victims in a scandal involving tainted vaccines in northeastern China's Shandong Province.

Yu was awarded the Franco-German Prize for Human Rights and the Rule of Law while in detention in 2018.

==Kyodo

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