Dozens of lawyers and activists associated with the Beijing Fengrui law firm, which has represented several high-profile clients, have been swept up in the crackdown and held since July a year ago, triggering global criticism.
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A police auto passes by the Tianjin No. 2 Intermediate People’s Court in northern China’s Tianjin Municipality on Tuesday, Aug. 2, 2016.
Mr Zhou pleaded guilty in court and will not appeal against the ruling, reported state media outlet Xinhua.
Each trial, from the presentation of evidence to the hearing of prosecution and defence arguments and the verdict and sentencing, took less than half a day – seemingly doing away with the pretence that in Chinese courts, judicial outcomes are anything but predetermined.
The jailing of Zhou, the first lawyer to go on trial since the crackdown, follows the sentencing Wednesday of activist Hu Shigen to 7½ years. Both were arrested in July a year ago with two others as part of a nationwide crackdown on legal rights activists.
“But a guard inside questioned our identity, and we answered as ‘citizens coming to audit the trial.’ He then demanded that we provide citizen IDs and once we produced them, he took us out of the court”, said Li.
Prosecutors accused him of trying to manipulate public opinion to overthrow the government.
Hu had been sentenced in 1994 to 20 years in prison on the now-abolished charge of counterrevolution in connection with his political activities, but was released in 2008 after his sentence was reduced.
The targeting of the law firm was a prominent move to curb dissent under President Xi Jinping, who since taking power in 2012 has assumed personal control over an overhaul of China’s national security apparatus.
Previously, Hu spent 16 years in prison for other political offences, including sharing leaflets about China’s 1989 crackdown on protesters in Tiananmen Square.
Zhou, whose Beijing-based Fengrui law firm was known for helping dissidents in their legal battles against the Chinese government, was given a 7-year prison sentence, China’s Xinhua news agency said.
About a dozen lawyers and activists from the “709 crackdown” still remain under arrest on state subversion charges.
Two more activists also face trial.
Several of those detained, including Zhou and fellow Fengrui lawyer Wang Yu, have made televised apologies for the crimes they are accused of, saying their legal activism was directed by unidentified “hostile foreign forces” to smear and attack the Chinese government.
“He wanted to use sensitive cases to trigger friction, put pressure on the government, overturn China’s existing system and realize “color revolution” in China”, Liu added. Their actions were harshly denounced by the authorities as thuggery and interference in the legal process.
Family members of those detained, particularly their wives, have complained of being constantly surveilled and denied access to the court proceedings.
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The court included a photo of what it said was a handwritten letter signed and fingerprinted by Zhou: “As my family members are all farmers who are not very well-educated, having them come to court to attend my hearing would be of no benefit to either me or them”.
