April 29, 2008 Former prisoner will walk from Boston to D.C. Play video

(NECN) - In one hundred days the world's greatest athletes will gather in Beijing to open the 2008 summer Olympics.

But the games are in danger of being overshadowed by the increasing controversy over protests in Tibet and china's human rights record.

Today state media in china reported 30 people including six monks were sentenced to prison for their roles in deadly riots in Tibet last month.

For years – Dr. Yang Jianli worked to promote democracy in China.

But in 2002, he was arrested, convicted of spying and thrown into a Chinese prison, where he spent most of the next five years.

It has been a year since he was released from jail and returned to the U.S.

On Sunday he'll begin a walk from Boston to Washington D.C. The goal-- to bring attention to human rights.

Dr. Yang Jianli talks with NECN's Chet Curtis.