China scuffles over rights lawyer trial
PU ZHIQIANG FACES UP TO EIGHT YEARS IN JAIL FOR ‘INCITING ETHNIC HATRED’
Police and men in plainclothes scuffled with supporters of one of China’s most celebrated human rights lawyers yesterday as he was tried over online comments critical of the ruling Communist Party.
Dozens of Pu Zhiqiang’s supporters travelled from across the country, some for thousands of kilometres, to protest outside the courtroom in Beijing.
The crowd was shoved hundreds of metres away. “Pu Zhiqiang! Innocent!” protesters shouted before being broken up by police who said they had obstructed the pavement.
Authorities dragged at least three people away, an AFP reporter at the scene said, and shoved at least two to the ground.
Pu, who has represented labour camp victims and dissident artist Ai Weiwei, was detained a year and a half ago in a nationwide crackdown on critics.
He faces a maximum of eight years in jail on charges of “inciting ethnic hatred” and “picking quarrels and provoking trouble”, according to his lawyer, Mo Shaoping.
In a trial that lasted little more than three hours, he said Beijing’s Number Two Intermediate People’s Court considered the evidence — seven posts Pu made on a microblog between 2011 and 2014. According to Mo, his client told the court he was willing to apologise to anyone who had been harmed by his comments.
“I am a man of the law,” the lawyer quoted Pu as saying. “I have faith in the law, so I believe and hope that the court can give me a verdict that can stand the test of history.” No ruling was issued yesterday, but Mo said he expected it “quite quickly”.
Supporter Bao Renpu condemned the strong-arm tactics against the crowd. “On the outside, the government talks about human rights and democracy, but on the inside, it simply doesn’t exist,” she said.
Security personnel — those in civilian dress identifiable by “smiley face” stickers on their clothing — also pushed and shouted at senior US diplomat Dan Biers and journalists.
“Lawyers and civil society leaders such as Mr Pu should not be subject to continuing repression but should be allowed to contribute to the building of a prosperous and stable China,” Biers said.
‘A good lawyer’
A diplomat from the European Union mission was also shoved and shouted down as he delivered a statement criticising the process.
Yao Lianshe, a citizen who attends as many trials as he can despite frequent police harassment, said: “China has too few good lawyers — he was one of the few.”
“Nothing in China will ever change for the better unless the people are unafraid to stand up to authority and bear witness.”
In the comments for which he was tried, Pu said China did not need Communist rule, writing: “Other than secrecy, cheating, passing the buck ... what kinds of secrets of governance does this party have?”
The 50-year-old is the latest person to be tried in a crackdown on critics of the Communist Party overseen by President Xi Jinping, which has seen hundreds detained and dozens sent to prison.