New York, March 24 -- A court in China sentenced the prominent human rights lawyer Xie Yang to five years in prison on March 23, 2026, on politically motivated charges of "inciting subversion of state power," as per the Human Rights Watch on Tuesday. It urged the Chinese government to immediately quash the conviction, which followed serious procedural violations and years of persecution, and free Xie unconditionally.

The statement by the Human Rights Watch said that the Changsha Intermediate People's Court cited several of Xie's WeChat posts as the basis for the verdict, Xie's former wife, Chen Guiqiu, posted on social media. The court also ordered the confiscation of 100,000 yuan (US$14,500).

"The Chinese authorities' prosecution of Xi...