Chinese entrepreneur Geng Xiaonan and her husband Qin Zhen, who have publicly voiced support for dissidents in China, were sentenced to prison after being convicted of operating an illegal business operation. The couple was tried at a court in Haidian district, Beijing on Feb. 9. Friends were not permitted to enter the courtroom and attend the hearing, according to tweets by Beijing-based independent journalist Gao Yu. The same day, police blocked the couple’s close friend and former professor at Tsinghua University, Xu Zhangrun, from leaving his home or going to the court.  In her personal statement, Geng pleaded guilty and expressed her wish to be held accountable for all the charges filed by the prosecution. The court sentenced Geng to three years in prison and Qin to two-and-half-years with three-years’ probation. Gao commented in her tweet that she believed Geng admitted guilt not out of cowardice, but to avoid implicating …