Three days ago in Jiangsu Province, Guo Quan, a former professor at Nanjing Normal University was formally sentenced to 10 years in prison after becoming a threat in the eyes of the Chinese Communist Party when he posted his internet series "The Early Voice of Democracy".  Guo was charged with "subversion of state power", an accusation that is often used by the CCP to criminalize public expression of dissent.  The sentence was contested by Guo's lawyer who called it "indefensible from a legal perspective," and who also stated "...using peaceful and rational means to petition cannot be considered subversion of state power." 

Guo was a founder of the New Democracy Party in 2007, which he claimed had 40 million members, and called for a multi-party democracy in China, with more protection for workers under privatization of state-run businesses.  He was first arrested in November 2008, and his trial began in early August 2009. At one point during the trial his mother was heard leaving the courtroom shouting, "Son, you are great!  I am proud of you!"  His sentencing this week is hugely disappointing for people around the world interested in the state of human rights in China, and freedom of expression in particular, but Guo's pursuit of a true Chinese multi-party system in the face of such injustice is undoubtedly making his mama even prouder.