STORY:
The Beijing Number One Intermediate People's Court found the 34-year-old human rights activist guilty of "inciting subversion of state power,” a charge often used against people who openly criticize the CCP.

Hu emerged as one of the nation's most vocal advocates of democratic rights, religious freedom and
self-determination for Tibet.

His conviction is likely to become a focus for critics of the Communist Party's strict controls on dissent and protest ahead of the Beijing Olympic Games in August.

U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice raised Hu's case while in Beijing in February. The European Union and other Western governments have also pressed China on the case.

His wife, Zeng Jinyan and their infant daughter remain under house arrest, with their telephone line cut off. During the court sentencing, Zeng Jinyan was present under police escort.

[Li Fangping, Hu Jia's Lawyer]:
"Yes, his mother and his wife will be permitted to attend his hearing and this is according to Chinese law because its the verdict not the trial."

Hu was detained by police in late December after spending more than 200 days under house arrest in a Beijing apartment complex.

Friends and well-wishers waited outside the courtroom to hear the result of the verdict. One supporter, who would not give her name, was escorted back to her home province in the past for petitioning in Beijing.

"I heard that Hu Jia's verdict was today so I came back to support him wholeheartedly. Hu Jia hasn't done anything wrong, we all support him."

Another Chinese dissident, Yang Chunlin, who called for human rights to take precedence over the Olympic Games, was sentenced to five years in jail on charges of inciting subversion in late March.