Poetry and calling on his compatriots to "rally" for a Chinese-style Jasmine Revolution are among his crimes. A supporter of democracy in China, Zhu has already spent nine years in prison.

Hong Kong (AsiaNews/CHRD) - Hangzhou dissident Zhu Yufu was transferred to Zhejiang Provincial No. 4 Prison on May 10 to serve his seven-year prison sentence, four days after his conviction for "inciting subversion of state power" was upheld and his appeal rejected after a second-instance hearing.

Zhu Yufu, 59, was tried on 31 January for "inciting subversion" and sentenced on 10 February by the Hangzhou City Intermediate People's Court, which stated that Zhu had, among other alleged offenses, collected funds for prisoners who "endanger state security," incited people to overthrow China's socialist system, and expressed views that identified him as part of the illegal China Democracy Party.

The court cited as an example of his crimes a poem Zhu wrote, "It's Time," which he shared online at a time, in early 2011, when appeals were made for "Jasmine rallies."

In the first months of last year, people were asked online to meet in public places or busy city streets, to replicate the big demonstrations then taking place in Tahrir Square in Cairo, Egypt, to push the Chinese people to carry out their own 'Jasmine Revolution'. Chinese police reacted by arresting hundreds of activists and dissidents. Zhu was one of them. In March 2011, he was taken into custody and formally charged a month later.

He has already spent nine years in prison. In the 1970s, he was a passionate defender of the Democracy Wall. In 1999, he was sentenced to seven years on "subversion" charges. In 2007, he was given two years for "beating police" and "hindering police duty."

• china
• zhu
• yufu
• dissident
• arrest
• subversion