Shao was a leading member of the Ji’nan Workers’ Autonomous Federation in Shandong Province during the May 1989 pro-democracy demonstrations. He was detained by police on 15 June 1989, tried in September that year by the Ji’nan Intermediate People’s Court on charges of “sabotaging communications equipment” and then sentenced to death with a two-year reprieve. His sentence was subsequently reduced to life imprisonment, and then in July 1994 to 17 years’ imprisonment. He received two further sentence reductions in 1998 and 2000, totaling three years and six months, bringing his date of release to November 4, 2007. Shao Liangchen is currently serving his sentence in Weihu Prison, Shandong Province.
June 2005
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