Chinese civil rights lawyer’s trial for online posts draws supporters

Diplomats attempting to observe what should have been an open trial were denied access and turned away. They were refused admittance by the police.

While the United States expressed concern that Pu was “being tried under vague charges” and urged China to release him, security officials barred foreign diplomats, including from the USA and European Union, and journalists from witnessing the proceedings amid heavy security presence.

Video posted on Twitter showed deputy political counsellor of the U.S. embassy Dan Biers being shoved by police as he read out a statement saying: “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”.

Friends and supporters of a prominent Chinese human rights lawyer have scuffled with police outside the courthouse where his trial is taking place in Beijing.

The posts at the centre of the case include messages questioning a state media account of a deadly knife attack blamed on people from the mainly Muslim region of Xinjiang, and another message accusing Communist Party officials of “lying”.

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

Prosecutors have charged Pu Zhiqiang, 50, with “picking quarrels and provoking trouble” and “inciting ethnic hatred” over seven microblog posts that he penned between 2011 and 2014.

Mr Mo said the court did not ask Pu specifically whether he was pleading guilty.

The group stated that they “condemn the harassment of and violence against overseas media and their local staff by Chinese authorities in an apparent effort to block reporting of the trial of lawyer Pu Zhiqiang in Beijing today…” “If they decide to be harsh against him, I’d say it’ll signify a further escalation of hostility towards human rights activism”, Maya Wang, a China researcher for Human Rights Watch, said.

 Despite the heavy-handed police presence, around 40 protesters outside the court chanted in support of Mr. Pu.

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A suspended death sentence is normally commuted to life in jail.

Liu was prosecuted for corruption and abuse of power in 2013.

“A short distance away a group of Pu supporters furtively unfurled two banners for our cameras”.

“A simple theory he taught me is that, just like you have the father first and then the son, you have to have legitimate legal procedures – file the case first, gather evidence, prosecute – you cannot prosecute and then find evidence”, said a former client who only gave his surname, Xu, because he feared being arrested for speaking out.

In the comments for which he was tried, Pu said that China did not need Communist rule, writing: “Other than secrecy, cheating, passing the buck, delay, the hammer and sickle, what kinds of secrets of governance does this party have?”

Authorities had rejected his lawyers’ request for medical parole earlier in September, his lawyer, Shang, said. 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.