Prominent China rights lawyer to be released with suspended sentence

Pu Zhiqiang was handed a three-year suspended sentence for “inciting ethnic hatred” and “picking quarrels and provoking trouble”, according to CCTV state television.

Still, the guilty verdict disqualifies Pu from practising law, and he must comply with certain restrictions and not commit crimes during the three-year period or risk being jailed. If he abides by the law and complies with conditions set by the court, Pu’s sentence will be commuted.

Amnesty International welcomed the suspended sentence but condemned the guilty verdict.

Pu had spent almost 19 months in detention before his trial last week, which lasted about three hours.

Pu was detained in May 2014 and was held without charges for one year, during which time his health suffered. The lawyer is a popular public figure in some circles in China – he was previously quoted frequently in the Chinese media and was once named person of the year by a Chinese news magazine. “The Communist Party saves faces, so does lawyer Pu”.

She said the foreign journalists had then tried to interview him.

Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Hong Lei (洪磊) rebuffed the concern, saying foreign governments had to respect China’s judicial sovereignty and not interfere.

Earlier Tuesday, police had seized individuals outside the courthouse and dragged them into vans.

Before the sentencing, a tiny number of foreign journalists and activists assembled before the court.

Plain clothes security personnel gather outside the Beijing No. 2 People’s Intermediate Court where human rights lawyer Pu Zhiqiang was sentenced in Beijing, China, Tuesday, Dec. 22, 2015.

The Times calls Pu “the most prominent rights lawyer to be arrested during a far-reaching crackdown on dissent under the leadership of President Xi Jinping”. Other observers, however, believe it reflects a swelling confidence that allows Beijing to thumb its nose at worldwide norms.

The US said through its embassy that it was concerned about the suspended sentence and urged authorities to restore Mr Pu’s rights and let him resume his work.

China, for their part, would minimize the worldwide import of the trial, while letting it stand as a warning for other dissidents.

“The disgraceful police operation outside Pu Zhiqiang’s trial only underscores why China needs defenders of free speech like Pu more than ever”, Nee said.

The case centred on seven posts Pu made on social media between 2011 and 2014.

However, his lawyer Shang Baojun said Pu has long insisted in his innocence.

Mr. Pu’s lawyers and supporters say his messages weren’t unusually inflammatory by the standards of Chinese social media.

“He also said if there’s an opportunity, history will deliver a true judgment”.

Fellow defense attorney Mo Shaoping said Pu had refused all along to plead guilty to the charges, although he had apologized for the rudeness of the tweets, some of which targeted individual politicians.

Olivia Geng contributed to this article.