The brother-in-law of 2010 Nobel peace laureate >Liu Xiaobo was sentenced to 11 years in prison for fraud on Sunday, but his family and activists alleged official retribution.
Liu Hui, whose sister is the wife of the jailed dissident, was convicted by a court in northeastern China of embezzling money as manager of a real estate firm.
His lawyer and supporters argued that the case should have been tried in a civil rather than criminal court.