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China jails two dissidents-HK group

HONG KONG: A court in China's central city of Changsa sentenced two members of the outlawed opposition China Democracy Party to jail for subversion, a Hong Kong-based human rights group said on Monday.

Tong Shidong, 65, and Liao Shihua, 50, were sentenced on Monday to 10 and six years, respectively, the Information Centre of Human Rights and Democratic Movement in China said.

The pair were arrested on June 10 last year, it said.

Tong, an associate professor at Hunan University, was accused of setting up a China Democracy Party cell at the university.

The Hong Kong-based group said both would appeal against their sentence.

The China Democracy Party was set up by prominent Chinese dissidents in 1998. Beijing moved to crush the group at the end of 1998, sending scores of members to jail or to labour camps.-Reuters