A Chinese court sentenced a citizen to two-and-half-years in
jail for spreading hatred against Muslims and Islam online, China's
daily Global Times reported on Monday.
The ruling was passed by a court in Shenyang, Northeast China's Liaoning Province. Global Times
reports that according to the verdict published by the Heping district
People's Court in Shenyang, an ethnic Han was charged with "inciting
ethnic hatred after he set up a website and online chat groups and
posted pictures and articles attacking Muslims between April 2009 to
June 2016".
According to media reports, several Muslims
reported Li Zhidong to local authorities. Li's behaviour violated the
principle of ethnic equality and negatively impacted society, the court
verdict read.
Earlier, Li was detained in September 2009
for inciting ethnic hatred but later released on bail. However, he was
re-arrested for the same charge in June 2016, the verdict read.
"China's
top legislature adopted the Cybersecurity Law in 2016, which states
that any online activity that undermines national unity is prohibited,"
the media report
reads. The law also forbids activities such as inciting ethnic hatred,
discrimination and spreading violent and obscene content online, it
added.
