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Human rights lawyer Pu Zhiqiang was accused of
making seven posts on Sina Weibo by the Chinese government. Photo: GlobalPanorama | FlickrCC. |
China
has placed human rights lawyer Pu Zhiqiang on trial for criticizing the
government. Pu Zhiqiang is accused of making seven posts on Sina Weibo, the
Chinese equivalent of Twitter. He admits to making the posts, but has pled not guilty,
and called on the government to prove that there was any harm done by the
posts.
The trial comes during a time
of increased repression of comments seen as “destructive” or which criticize
the government or the state. Lawyers and their family members have been
detained, new laws require political discussion to be positive, and party
members are forbidden from criticizing Communist Party policy.
Over the summer, state media
featured editorials calling human rights lawyers “venal and self-aggrandizing
troublemakers out to destabilize China.” The Global Times, a party organ,
warned recently that Western interference in Pu’s case would be considered an
attack against the rule of law in China.
Pu has criticized China’s
government for being one based on “secrecy, cheating, passing the buck (and)
delay.” He also referred to the government as a conqueror or plunderer for its
treatment of the predominantly Muslim western region of Xinjiang.
President Xi Jinping and the
party are upset about this kind of talk, which they refer to as
“anti-establishment.” Since Xi took office in 2012, he has pushed for more
repression of freedom of expression in China, and has led the charge against
human rights lawyers and other critics of the state.
It is unclear how long it will
take for the court to come to a verdict and possible sentence for Pu. He has
been in custody for 19 months, charged with provoking trouble and inciting
ethnic hatred. He faces up to eight years in prison if found guilty, and of
course that verdict would set a dangerous precedent for the treatment of other
critics.
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