China Lawyer’s Trial Marked by Police Tussles With Journalists

By Ting Shi, Bloomberg News

A human-rights lawyer who defended Chinese dissidents is awaiting a verdict in Beijing after a three-hour trial marked by police tussles with journalists and diplomats outside the courthouse.

Pu Zhiqiang didn’t plead guilty during the proceedings Monday, which came more than 19 months after he attended a meeting about commemorating the Tiananmen Square protests and was detained, according to one of his lawyers, Shang Baojun. He was indicted in May on charges of “inciting ethnic hatred” and “picking quarrels and provoking trouble” stemming from seven Sina Weibo posts he wrote critical of the ruling Communist Party and its policies toward the Uighur minority group in the northwestern region of Xinjiang.

“He rejected the two charges, saying he had no intention to incite ethnic hatred or provoke trouble,” said Shang, adding that exchanges in court gave him the impression Pu would receive a lighter sentence than the maximum eight-year prison term. “He said some of these Weibo posts might be cutting, but were not intended to hurt other people.”

The case against Pu, 50, whose clients have ranged from farmers to activist-artist Ai Weiwei, has been one of China’s most closely watched amid a broad crackdown on dissent under President Xi Jinping. 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.

“This is a politically sensitive case,” said Chen Youxi, a Beijing-based rights lawyer. “It greatly concerns basic human rights, including freedom of expression.”

Court Security

Observers and a small group of protesters unable to enter Beijing’s No. 2 Intermediate People’s Court were confronted by police and plainclothes security personnel. Diplomats including Dan Biers, the deputy political counselor for the U.S. Embassy in Beijing, were shoved as they attempted to read aloud statements on the proceedings.

“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,” the U.S. Embassy said. “We urge Chinese authorities to release Mr. Pu, and call upon China to uphold fundamental civil rights and fair trial guarantees, as enshrined in the PRC constitution and its international human rights commitments.”

The Foreign Correspondents’ Club of China issued a statement condemning violence against overseas media trying to cover the trial. The group said at least one foreign journalist was slammed to the ground while others were pushed away from the site or summoned to last-minute meetings with authorities.

“This effort to deter news coverage is a gross violation of Chinese government rules governing foreign correspondents, which expressly permit them to interview anybody who consents to be interviewed,” the group said.

Leniency Possible

Pu initially faced four charges, including inciting separatism and illegally obtaining personal information, according to his lawyers. Prosecutors referred the case back to the police twice, requesting more evidence. He was finally indicted May 15, just hours before U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry arrived in Beijing for meetings.

Meng Qun, Pu’s wife who attended the trial, said in a posting on Tencent Holdings Ltd.’s WeChat that Pu “looked thinner, but in good spirits.”

Pu, who participated in the 1989 pro-democracy protests, was among several people detained last year in the run-up to the 25th anniversary of the bloody Tiananmen crackdown. Another, veteran journalist Gao Yu, 71, was freed on medical parole last month after agreeing to plead guilty and stop fighting charges of leaking a secret party document.

Last year, several dissidents associated with the New Citizens Movement, a loose grouping of activists that sought to promote rule of law and democracy, were sentenced to prison.

Legal scholar Xu Zhiyong, who helped to start the movement, was given a four-year term.

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