A Chinese court has sentenced the brother-in-law of jailed Nobel Peace Prize laureate Liu Xiaobo to 11 years in prison on charges of fraud.
Rights activists called the case another example of official retribution on the Liu family.
Supporters of Liu Hui say his case was trumped up, aimed at thwarting the increasing attention by the rights community on the plight of Liu Xia, who has remained under effective house arrest since her husband Liu Xiaobo won the Nobel Prize in 2010.
Liu Hui has maintained his innocence, according to his lawyers.
In a rare statement to media, Liu Xia told reporters as she drove away from the courthouse that she was extremely angry with the verdict and vowed to launch an appeal.
"I absolutely cannot accept this. This is simply persecution," she said. "This is completely an illegal verdict."
Liu Xia said she had "completely lost hope" in the government.
"I can't even leave my house."
After about two minutes, security forced journalists away from the car, which moved off.
Liu Hui was out on bail last September, but then arrested again in January, after several rights activists and foreign reporters forced their way past security guards late last year to visit Liu Xia.
Raphael Droszewski, a first secretary at the European Union Delegation to China, told reporters outside the courthouse that the EU was deeply concerned by Liu Hui's sentence. He called for Liu Xiaobo's release and the ending of restrictions on Liu Xia.
"As it is clear Liu Xia is under house arrest, the EU urges the Chinese authorities to end all forms of extra legal restriction on her," he said.
The ruling is seen as a setback for hopes for political reform from new Chinese President Xi Jinping, whose government has detained anti-corruption activists and tightened free expression on the Internet following his appointment in March.
The case will also renew international criticism of the plight of Liu Xiaobo's family.
Liu Xiaobo, a veteran dissident involved in the 1989 Tiananmen Square pro-democracy protests crushed by the Chinese army, was jailed for 11 years in 2009 on subversion charges for organising a petition urging the overthrow of one-party rule.
His wife Liu Xia is rarely allowed out and is almost never allowed to receive visitors. She has not been convicted of any crime.
