Ni Yulan, a lawyer and human rights defender who has been disabled by police abuse over the past decade, was sentenced yesterday to two years and eight months in jail for unruly behaviour and fraud.
Her husband, Dong Jiqin, was jailed for two years. The punishment was handed down amid heavy security, with more than 100 police ringing the courthouse and access roads to the area cordoned off.
Ms Ni and Mr Dong were picked up just over a year ago during a dragnet aimed at preventing Arab Spring-style unrest taking hold in China. She and her husband are well known for their advocacy for people who were forced out of their homes to make way for the renovation of Beijing before the 2008 Olympics.
Ms Ni (52) had appeared in court in bed. She said that because of repeated episodes of torture over the past decade, she cannot walk and suffers from a range of chronic conditions, including breathing difficulties.
While she was in prison, her house in one of the old neighbourhoods in Beijing was demolished and she and her husband were forced to live on the streets until pressure from overseas forced authorities to allow them to move into the Yuxingong Guesthouse in the summer of 2010.
Her supporters say the unruly behaviour charges and others of impersonating a lawyer, were trumped up.
