March 21, 2003

(Clearwisdom.net) BEIJING (Reuters) - A Chinese court sentenced an American member of the banned Falun Gong spiritual movement to three years in prison on Friday for sabotaging television broadcasts, but ordered his expulsion, Xinhua news agency said.

It was not immediately clear when Charles Li, 38, also known as Chuck Lee, from Menlo Park, California, would be expelled.

Li, a U.S. citizen since 2002, was taken into police custody on January 22 after entering China, the official news agency Xinhua said.

The Intermediate People's Court in Yangzhou -- hometown of former president Jiang Zemin who outlawed the Falun Gong group in 1999 -- convicted Li of sabotaging television broadcasts in October 2002, Xinhua said.

Falun Gong said on its Web site www.faluninfo.net Li had defended himself and ruled out the possibility of a fair trial.

"China's legal system is just another tool utilized to persecute Falun Gong practitioners," the Web site quoted Li's fiancee, Yeong-ching Foo, as saying.

"Choosing a lawyer would only serve to legitimize this show trial," Foo added.

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http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=politicsNews&storyID=2422125