The lawyers who defend dissidents have borne the brunt of the government’s attention in recent months, with dozens of members of the so-called rights-defense movement detained this summer over allegations of manipulating public opinion and influencing rulings.
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Police officers take away a supporter of rights lawyer Pu Zhiqiang near the Beijing Second Intermediate People’s Court during his trial in Beijing, Dec. 14, 2015.
“Nothing Pu Zhiqiang has written has violated any law, but the authorities’ treatment of him certainly has”, said Sophie Richardson, China director at Human Rights Watch.
In four of the seven posts, Pu had called for reform in Beijing’s policies toward Xinjiang and Tibet and the religious and ethnic in the regions – resulting in charges of “inciting ethnic hatred” for posts that allegedly “provoked ethnic relations… and damaged ethnic unity”.
Pu, 50, has been in custody since May 2014.
Despite the heavy-handed police presence, around 40 protesters outside the court chanted in support of Mr. Pu.
USA diplomat Dan Biers tries to deliver a statement outside the trial of rights lawyer Pu Zhiqiang, and is roughly shoved by Chinese police.
Since coming to power in 2013, Chinese President Xi Jinping has spearheaded crackdowns on civil activists, rights lawyers and online freedom of expression, in moves aimed at snuffing out any potential threats to the Communist Party’s grip on power. In July, authorities rounded up about 200 human rights lawyers in a major nationwide sweep; many of them remain behind bars.
The trial of Pu and the brazen police action against protesters and journalists covering the event is the Chinese Communist Party’s latest move in an ongoing suppression of rights lawyers and activists in China.
Pu Zhiqiang was arrested for posting – what appeared to the government as incendiary comments – on the Chinese microblogging site Weibo.
The trial is taking place at Beijing’s Number Two Intermediate People’s Court.
The case has attracted so much attention because of Pu’s professional stature – his work has been praised by state-run magazines – and the fact he faces a near-certain conviction on what many consider a problematic, catch-all charge.
Pu said that if his posts “hurt anyone, he would like to apologize”, Mo said.
Pu’s online messages were mostly remarks critical of the government’s handling of an ethnic conflict in Kunming, Yunnan province, previous year and sarcastic comments about two officials.
Pu’s trial is extremely important – he’s the ultimate canary in the coal mine.
The Hong Kong-based South China Morning Post reported Monday that security was intensified outside the courthouse, where journalists, foreign diplomats and supporters of Pu trying to approach the building were pushed away by policemen, as well as unidentified persons.
Dilxat Raxit, a spokesman with the World Uyghur Congress in Germany, disagrees with the Chinese regime’s persecution of Pu Zhiqiang for his supposedly ethnically insensitive Weibo posts. “He had no such intention”, Shang said.
The court’s verdict, expected in the next few weeks, will be seen as a bellwether for human rights activism in China.
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“The worldwide society should look out for Pu Zhiqiang, who spoke out for what is right”. He faces up to eight years in jail.
