16 sentenced for enviromental protest

A total of 16 people have been sentenced to up to 18 months in prison for involvement in last July’s thousands-strong environmental protest near Shanghai, Reuters reported. A court in Qidong city, 65 kilometers north of Shanghai, charged the demonstrators with “gathering to assault state organs, damaging property and theft” during the July 28 demonstration that ransacked government offices. The protest against a pipeline that would have dumped waste from a paper factory shows the public’s growing enviromental awareness as well as their willingness to voice concern against industrial pollution.