[JURIST] Chinese human rights lawyer Gao Zhisheng was sentenced Friday to a three-year suspended prison term for following his earlier conviction [JURIST report] for inciting subversion of state power [CECC report]. If Gao breaks any laws in the next three years, his prison sentence will be reinstated. The court additionally stripped Gao of his political rights, including the rights to free speech and to gather to protest, for one year.

Gao gained international notice by representing controversial clients, including members of the banned Falun Gong [group website; BBC backgrounder] sect. Gao's license to practice law was revoked [CECC backgrounder; HRW letter] late last year. There have been several high-profile subversion trials in China this year, leading to the jailing of several journalists and a ten-year sentence for a teacher [JURIST reports] who posted pro-democracy essays on the Internet. AP has more.