Lawyer on trial in Beijing as police scuffle with protesters

Diplomats, journalists and protesters were manhandled by Chinese police outside a Beijing court where a prominent human rights lawyer was going on trial yesterday (Monday). Rights groups have said Pu faces up to eight years in prison.

Mr Pu’s lawyers said the case centred on seven messages he posted on a Chinese social media platform which criticised government policy and officials.

Since coming to power in late 2012, Chinese President Xi Jinping has spearheaded a crackdown on freedom of expression, civil activists and human rights lawyers.

“We urge Chinese authorities to release Mr. Pu”, Biers said, repeating his statement about 100 feet down the road, “and call upon China to uphold fundamental human civil rights and fair-trial guarantees as enshrined in the (Chinese) constitution and its global human rights commitments”.

Numerous protesters said they had benefited personally from Pu’s legal work, while most said they simply came to support him.

Visitors at the Beijing No. 2 Intermediate People’s Court, where the trail was held, included 11 diplomats from countries including the United States, Germany and France besides Pu’s supporters, who had travelled long distances, to show their solidarity for the lawyer. He was in court for barely three hours, no members of the public were permitted to watch and no verdict was announced.

“Nothing Pu Zhiqiang has written has violated any law, but the authorities’ treatment of him certainly has”, the group’s China director said. He said Pu was not asked whether he admitted to his guilt during the trial.

Chinese human rights activist lawyer Li Zhiqiang, started the trial.

Chinese police also interfered with reporters by trying to block cameramen from filming as they pulled journalists like the BBC’s John Sudworth away from the courthouse. Others were pushed, shoved and punched in the back as they were hustled away from the courtroom.

The U.S. Embassy is “concerned” about the “vague charges” leveled against Pu, Dan Biers, deputy political counselor at the embassy, told a small scrum of reporters as police shoved and shouted “go” to drown out his words.

In another post, Pu wrote: “If you say Xinjiang belongs to China, then don’t treat it like a colony and don’t act like conquerors and plunderers”.

A trail involving high-profile lawyers led to a scuffle in the premises of a Beijing court, and complaints from several diplomats who were not allowed to attend.

The Foreign Correspondents’ Club of China issued a statement condemning the harassment of and violence against both overseas media and their local staff.

Pu’s online messages were mostly remarks critical of the government’s handling of an ethnic conflict in Kunming, Yunnan province, a year ago and sarcastic comments about two officials.

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.

The court’s verdict, expected in the next few weeks, will be seen as a bellwether for human rights activism in China.