He was arrested in 2003 for his postings of information on local corruption on the Internet.
[1] At a time when the internet began to gain popularity with Chinese dissidents to exchange their views, while police had begun monitoring chatrooms,[1] Li posted essays online that detailed local corruption.
[2] He was detained in Sichuan province in August 2003, formally charged with "conspiracy to subvert state power" in September,[1] and sentenced for "inciting subversion" to eight years imprisonment in December that year.
[4] It is alleged that part of the evidence against him, namely his e-mail account and username, was provided by the Hong Kong subsidiary of the Internet company Yahoo!
[5] Other cases involving political prisoners in the People's Republic of China where information had been provided by Yahoo!