No mercy for internet dissidents

 The Chinese civil rights activist Chen Shuging was sentenced to four years in prison for publishing political statements on the internet. This was deemed by the judiciary to be "incitement to subversion". The 43-year-old Chen criticized the Chinese leadership in various articles published on the Internet, which is why he was arrested last September. The SDA reports that the Chinese government's promise to relax media controls in the run-up to the 2008 Olympic Games has by no means been kept. Human rights organizations attribute this to the growing discontent among the population, which has prompted the authorities to continue their strict crackdown. The organization Reporters Without Borders ranks China 163rd out of a total of 167 countries in terms of press freedom.