A Chinese court on Wednesday convicted writer Huang Zerong, 81, after he was charged with illegal business for criticizing the propaganda chief and the Communist Party in his online essays.

According to Huang's lawyer, Liu Xiaoyuan, the sentence was suspended until 2019. He was given a jail sentence of two-and-a-half years and a fine of US$4,800 or CNY30,000 after pleading guilty in a court in Chengdu city.

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Huang was released last Wednesday on bail. His lawyer noted he will not be jailed if he never runs into any trouble with the law.

Another reason why he is not being kept in prison is his poor health. There was no official statement released by the officials from the court in Chengdu city.

The writer is best known as Tie Liu, his pen name, and his conviction is part of the campaign of the Communist Party to let the public know they are cracking down on the media personalities who post politically rebellious blogs and articles on the Internet.

Huang, who spent almost 25 years in labor camps, had criticized then leader Mao Zedong and his party.

Rights groups were also present during the court ruling. There were around 30 people in the area who wanted to protest but were asked by the family of the writer to not cause any commotion.

One of the supporters, Chen Yunfei, said the Huang is not involved in any illegal business so he should not be guilty of writing about what he feels as it is a form of free speech. Chen points out that the Chinese constitution says the people have freedom of expression so his conviction is a violation of that statement.

Aside from the illegal business charge, Huang was also charged last year by the Beijing police with causing a disturbance for writing 11 essays including six which criticized Politburo Standing Committee member Liu Yunshan. In an essay written last August, Huang accused Liu of not doing any good thing for China.

Huang was arrested in September.

The PEN American Center for free speech noted that the writer's arrest shows that Beijing is against free speech for 65 years now and that they prioritize the Communist Party over their citizens. 

Tagswriter, Huang Zerong, jail, Freedom of Speech, Mao Zedong