海角大神

China rights lawyer Pu Zhiqiang goes on trial in Beijing

The prominent advocate is charged with racial incitement and provoking trouble over social media postings that criticized the ruling party and its policies towards ethnic minorities in China. 

China鈥檚 most influential human rights lawyer went on trial himself here聽Monday, as police scuffled outside the courthouse with diplomats and journalists who were not allowed in.

Pu Zhiqiang faces charges of 鈥渋nciting racial hatred鈥� and 鈥減icking quarrels and provoking trouble鈥� which could earn him eight years imprisonment.

Mr. Pu鈥檚 supporters say the accusations, based on seven sharp-tongued posts on Chinese social media criticizing the government, are simply an excuse to shut him up. Should he be found guilty, as observers expect, he will automatically be disbarred as a lawyer, colleagues say. He has already been in jail for聽19 months.聽

Pu鈥檚 trial is widely seen as a new high-water mark in President Xi Jinping鈥檚 crackdown on any signs of action or thought critical of the government. Several hundred lawyers have been detained, harassed, or disappeared over the past six months; more than two dozen remain under arrest or unaccounted for, human rights groups say.

The US embassy expressed concern at what it called the 鈥渧ague charges鈥� against China鈥檚 best known rights lawyer and urged the authorities to release him. A senior US diplomat who read the statement outside the courthouse聽on Monday聽morning was jostled and shouted down by plainclothes policemen.

Though several dozen of Pu鈥檚 supporters chanted slogans protesting his innocence outside the court, they were forbidden to attend the trial. At least two of them were detained by the police. Pu鈥檚 wife, Meng Qun, the only relative permitted entry, told a friend that her husband was 鈥渢hinner and grayer but still quick witted,鈥� the friend tweeted. The court did not issue a verdict, Ms. Meng reported.

Pu is a particularly prominent lawyer, having played a leading role in the successful campaign to abolish 鈥渞e-education through labor,鈥� a system whereby police could lock someone up for as long as four years with no trial. He also stood up to powerful figures in the ruling Communist party, publicly accusing former security chief Zhou Yongkang of abusing his authority long before the much-feared party boss was arrested for corruption.

鈥淧u is a very special person,鈥� his lawyer, Shang Baojun said before the trial. 鈥淗e is one of the best human rights lawyers in China,鈥� he added, who magnified his influence through pungently expressed social media posts that won him tens of thousands of followers. His accounts have since been shut down.聽

'Freedom of speech' or incitement?聽

Pu took up the law after joining the pro-democracy demonstrations on Tiananmen Square in 1989, which were violently broken up by the army. He was arrested last year soon after attending a private meeting with other former participants to commemorate that event.

After 18 months of investigation, however, the prosecutor cited just seven comments by Pu on Weibo, the Chinese equivalent of Twitter, as evidence supporting the charges. Three of the posts insulted government officials and supporters, including Mao Zedong鈥檚 grandson; the other four criticized policies towards minorities such as Tibetans and Uighur Muslims.

Such criticism of the government is not uncommon on Weibo, and Pu did not deny writing and posting the comments, says Mr. Shang. 鈥淭he question is how to interpret them 鈥� as incitements to hatred or exercising freedom of speech?鈥� he adds. 鈥淧u鈥檚 case is a very typical one, of somebody getting into trouble because of what he said.鈥�

The court鈥檚 verdict, expected in the next few weeks, will be seen as a bellwether for human rights activism in China. Pu is almost certain to be found guilty 鈥� more than 99.9 percent of defendants in criminal cases were found guilty by Chinese courts in 2013, according to official figures. The judge could be lenient and hand him a suspended sentence, or put him in jail for as long as eight years, according to his lawyers.