Chinese dissident Huang Qi has been sentenced to 3 years in prison by a Chinese court for alleged illegal possession of state secrets. He was detained in June last year after posting online articles criticizing the Chinese government’s response to the Sichuan earthquake which killed 90, 000 people. Amnesty also revealed that Huang was denied proper medical help and treated badly while in detention.

Huang voiced the sentiments of bereaved parents who held that their children had been crushed by poorly built schools. The Chinese government, according to the Guardian, has been eager to suppress such complaints. In particular, Huang helped the families of 5 schoolchildren – who were killed when their school buildings collapsed on them – in bringing legal cases against local authorities. Zeng Li, Huang’s wife, said that the sentence was the government’s “revenge” for Huang’s involvement and alleged that the accusation was an ill-defined one often used by Communist leaders to clamp down on dissidents. He is not the only dissident investigating the schools issue and certainly not the only one to be prosecuted for his interference.

Huang previously served a 5 year sentence till 2005 for subversion charges relating to politically sensitive articles posted on his website. Upon his release, he continued asserting his freedom of expression in expressing views on a wide range of governmental issues.