#China lawyer’s sentence suspended in surprise verdict

“Nothing Pu Zhiqiang has written has violated any law, but the authorities’ treatment of him certainly has”, the group’s China director Sophie Richardson said. He later become one of the best-known lawyers in China for defending human rights in courts as well as in the media.

The court sentenced him to three years in prison but also said the sentence would be suspended.

The court, after hearing out the defence and opinions from the prosecutor, determined Pu provoked ethnic discord and incited ethnic hatred through a multiple entries he posted on his social media accounts on Weibo.Com from January 2012 to May past year.

Pu was detained in May 2014 and was held without charges for one year, during which time his health suffered.

For seven tweets, a three-year sentence, suspended for three years.

State news agency Xinhua said the court decided “to impose a lenient punishment [due to] the fact that the defendant, Pu Zhiqiang, truthfully confessed to the facts of the crime and positively pleaded guilty”.

He also condemned government policy in the mainly Muslim far western region of Xinjiang as “absurd” in the wake of a bloody knife attack blamed on separatists that killed 31 people at a train station in Kunming.

A Foreign and Commonwealth Office spokesman said: “We are seriously concerned by Pu Zhiqiang’s conviction despite the suspension of his sentence”.

The verdict also stirred mixed feelings from Pu’s supporters, who celebrated his release but also said it was an injustice to find him guilty. However, Becquelin noted that a similar sentence was previously given to another lawyer Gao Zhisheng – and Gao was eventually jailed during the last week of his probation.

Pu has been a vocal supporter of free speech and represented dissident artist Ai Weiwei.

“We of course hoped he would be acquitted of charges”, said Lawyer Shao Baojun, “but we knew the chance was slim”.

The United States said it was concerned about the suspended sentence.

During the open trial last week, Pu only expressed his willingness to apologize to anyone, who was offended by his “sharp, caustic and sometimes vulgar” comments online and insisted that his actions did not warrant the two charges.

“Pu isn’t guilty”, Ai told Reuters from Italy by telephone. On Shanghai-based news website the Paper, some readers who commented on an article about his sentence wrote simply “no comment”, a reference to government attempts to hush up Pu’s opinions, while others wrote “oh”, “sigh” or “sadness”. Pu has since taken responsibility for the crimes, and has issued “sincere apologies”.

However, Shang said Pu did not plead guilty.

On Tuesday morning, police detained at least 12 activists outside Beijing No. 2 Intermediate People’s Court who had come to show their support for Pu Zhiqiang.