China puts outstanding human rights lawyer on trial

Police have scuffled with protesters at a Beijing courthouse as prominent Chinese human rights lawyer Pu Zhiqiang stood trial on charges of provoking trouble and stirring ethnic hatred.

“Pu Zhiqiang, has been recognized around the world for supporting the rule of law in China, but has been in jail awaiting trial for more than 18 months”, Baucus said.

Human Rights Watch has called for the immediate release of Pu, who suffers from illnesses such as diabetes, heart disease and high blood pressure. Several of Pu’s supporters were led away by police.

“This is less how government functions and more like a season of ‘The Sopranos, ‘” she continued. Several of them were detained.

The Foreign Correspondents Club of China has issued a statement on Twit Longer denouncing the “assaults” by authorities on journalists covering the Pu Zhiqiang trial. “Innocent!” before being broken up by police who said they had obstructed the pavement. It was reported that Pu did not enter a plea, though he expressed regret for the comments he made on Weibo, and expressed a commitment to be more careful in the future with his rhetoric. In another, he hits out at government official Tian Zhenhui, while in another he asks “why would China work without the Communist Party?”.

He was arrested in May 2014 after attending a gathering to commemorate the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre.

Amnesty International say that is what he is really being punished for – standing up to the Chinese government.

 There are widespread concerns that China’s crackdown on freedom of expression has intensified since Xi Jinping became president in 2013.

Dan Biers, a diplomat with the USA embassy, said the United States urged Chinese authorities to release Mr Pu and uphold the Chinese constitution.

Police had tried to prevent Biers from reading the statement near the courthouse, Reuters reports.

Dozens of supporters travelled from across the country, some for thousands of kilometres, to protest outside the courtroom. They were refused admittance by the police.

His wife arrived at court to see her husband for the first time since his arrest.

It was not immediately clear when the verdict would be announced, but Pu’s lawyer says a ruling should come soon. He also was instrumental in pushing for the eventual abolishment of the labor camp system, which allowed police to lock up people for up to four years without a trial.

An editorial in the Global Times newspaper, a Communist Party organ, warned Monday that any attempt by Western nations to “interfere” in Pu’s case would be seen as an “attack on China’s rule of law”.

As a lawyer, Pu was known for assiduously keeping his activism within the boundaries of Chinese law.

“He is a good lawyer who helped the underprivileged”. His accounts have since been shut down.

“We want freedom of speech, democracy and peace”, he said, sitting on the wet pavement with his arms outstretched. Pu went on trial Monday on charges of pro… Pu went on trial Monday on charges of provoking t… The case is centered around seven posts on Pu’s microblog criticizing ethnic policy and government officials in the restive province of Xinjiang, where Beijing has been working to quell unrest and outbursts of fighting amongst its Uighur minority. One posting that was circulating on social media featured a picture of Pu Zhiqiang with his lips zipped shut.

He faces up to eight years in prison.