His lawyer relayed his words by phone to Bloomberg Businessweek as he was not given the chance to address the court. 'The last dignity of Chinese law has been destroyed,' he said, according to Zhang Qingfang. Mr Xu is a founder of the New Citizens'  Movement, a group which seeks to promote democracy, the rule of law and the disclosure of assets. Four years is seen as being on the heavy end of the court's options. It bodes badly for another dozen or so activist colleagues of Mr Xu's whose trials start this week. Source: Businessweek