Chinese student sentenced to 9 months in prison for harassing person publishing democracy leaflets

BOSTON– A former Chinese Berklee College of Music student was sentenced Wednesday to nine months in prison for stalking and threatening a person who posted a flyer supporting democracy in the Asian country, authorities said.

The flyer that was posted on the Boston campus on Oct. 22 read, “Support the Chinese people,” along with other statements such as “We want freedom” and “We want democracy,” the office said. U.S. Attorney in Boston.

In response, Xiaolei Wu, 26, threatened to cut off his hands, reported his family to China’s public security agency, asked others to find out where the person lived, and publicly posted his e-mail address. -mail, prosecutors said.

“Mr. Wu’s criminal conduct is very serious. He exploited fear of potential retaliation by the PRC government to harass and threaten an innocent individual who posted an innocuous pro-democracy flyer on the campus of Berklee,” Acting U.S. Attorney Joshua Levy said in a statement “Mr. Wu’s violent threats achieved his goal of instilling fear in his efforts to silence this courageous victim and anyone else who might want to speak out against the PRC government.

The person who posted the flyer is a U.S. permanent resident originally from China and has family members still living there, the U.S. attorney’s office said.

Wu was convicted in January of one count of stalking and one count of interstate transmission of threatening communications. In addition to his nine-month prison sentence, U.S. District Court Judge Denise Casper sentenced him to three years of supervised release.

Wu’s attorney did not respond to an email seeking comment.

“Today, Xiaolei Wu learned that there are serious consequences for harassing, threatening, stalking, and infringing on the constitutional rights of a fellow student solely because she criticized the ruling Chinese Communist Party,” said Jodi Cohen, special agent in charge of the FBI in Boston. Division, said in a statement. “What Mr. Wu did – exploiting the authoritarian nature of the People’s Republic of China to threaten this woman – is incredibly disturbing.”