Networking giant Cisco has been sued by Daniel Ward of law firm Ward & Ward on the behalf of Du Daobin, Zhou Yuanzhi, Liu Xianbin, and ten other Chinese political prisoners who requested to remain anonymous for fear of persecution. The lawsuit was filed with the US District Court in Maryland, and claims that Cisco technology and other resources the company provided to the Chinese government helped facilitate the arrests.

Here’s some more info on the case:

“According to court documents, Mr Du spent three years in jail, Mr Zhou is a prisoner in his own home and Mr Liu has served two months of a 10-year sentence. All three claim to have been tortured and abused over articles they published online.”

This is not the first time Cisco has faced harsh criticism that saw the company in court over its involvement with censorship and human rights infringements. The company has been openly involved with the development of the notorious “Great Firewall of China”, as well as other censorship efforts such as “Policenet” systems. Some accusations go deeper than simple invention, claiming that the networking company provided customized products and even training to Chinese engineers.

Cisco expanded beyond its core networking business some time ago, and now offers video and telecommunications technology as well. It has faced some scrutiny over a recently awarded contract to materialize the “Peaceful Chongqing” project, a network of 500,000 surveillance cameras labeled as an “anti-crime” initiative.

The Chinese government accounts for a sizable portion of Cisco’s earnings, which have slightly improved during its fourth fiscal quarter. Despite of a sharp decline in net income, the company reported a 3.3 percent rise in revenue from its fourth quarter. It is working on improving its profits though, mainly by doing long term “damage control” that included a massive round of layoffs that eliminated almost 12,000 jobs.