Luo, who has written numerous articles that have been distributed online, was detained in Changchun, Jilin province. On July 7, he was formally arrested. On October 14, the Changchun Intermediate Court sentenced him to three years in prison and two years without political rights upon his release, which is scheduled for June 13, 2006.
In sentencing papers, which have been widely distributed online, the court stated that between May and June 2003, Luo wrote several essays that “attacked the socialist system, incited to subvert state power, and created a negative influence on society.” Several specific articles were cited as evidence, including “At Last We See the Danger of the Three Represents!”–a reference to a political theory formulated by former President Jiang Zemin–and “Tell Today’s Youth the Truth about June 4,” a reference to the military crackdown on peaceful pro-democracy protesters in June 1989. According to the court papers, the articles were published on online forums including Shuijing Luntan (Crystal) Web site.
Luo has also written a number of articles advocating the rights of people with disabilities.