A Beijing court has sentenced two prominent human rights lawyers, one of whom previously called on Chinese President Xi Jinping to step down, to more than 10 years in prison, a rights group and the wife of one of them said Monday.

Convicted of "subverting state power" after closed trials, Xu Ziyong and Ding Jiashi were both activists in the "New Citizens" rights movement, which called for constitutional reforms and criticized government corruption.

Xu, who called on the Chinese president to step down over his management of the COVID-19 outbreak, was sentenced to 14 years in prison after a closed trial in Shandong Province (east), Human Rights Watch said.

As for Ding, he was sentenced to "12 years in prison and deprived of his political rights for three years," his wife, Luo Shengchun, told AFP, referring to a punishment in China that bars convicts from holding public office.

A court official declined to confirm the rulings to AFP.

Rights groups say civil liberties and freedom of expression declined during Xi Jinping's rule 10 years ago.
"The draconian convictions and sentences handed down on Xu Ziyong and Ding Jiashi show President Xi Jinping's endless hostility to peaceful activism," said Yaqiu Wang, China researcher at Human Rights Watch.

Human Rights Watch noted that the trials of Xu and Ding "were marred by procedural problems and complaints of ill-treatment."

Deng was detained in December 2019 after participating in a secret meeting with human rights activists and lawyers, including Xu, in Fujian Province (southeast).

His wife expressed her "extreme concern" that he had been tortured during his detention.

Former law professor Xu was detained in February 2020 after posting a series of blog posts criticizing Xi for his harsh approach to managing crises, including the COVID-19 outbreak and pro-democracy demonstrations in Hong Kong.

He had previously spent four years in prison after demanding that public sector employees declare their personal property.

Observers regularly raise concerns about due process in China, where the conviction rate in courts is nearly 99%.