Scuffles outside Pu Zhiqiang trial

A prominent rights lawyer (Pu Zhiqiang) is standing trial in China on charges of provoking trouble with commentaries on social media that were critical of the ruling Communist Party.

If convicted, Pu faces up to eight years in prison.

Journalists and a small group of protesters were manhandled by security officials outside court, reports said.

“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”, Biers said. The beginning of Pu’s trial sparked outrage Monday. from free speech activists & a call from the U.S. Embassy in Beijing to release him.

Pu, who has said that he is a moderate trying to work within China’s legal system, is reported to have acknowledged the posts were “emotionally charged, sarcastic and even rude sometimes”, and offered to apologize, his lawyer told the South China Morning Post recently, but has denied committing any crime. The posts denounced several officials and had criticised China’s ethnic policy in the troubled western region of Xinjiang. It said that the trial raised “serious questions of consistency with China’s constitutional guarantees of freedom of assembly, opinion and expression”, and also called on Beijing to respect Mr Pu’s constitutional rights, according to a copy posted on social media by reporters.

Pu’s case will be seen by rights groups and the West as a measure of what they say is the most severe clampdown on human rights in two decades in China.

Despite being pushed back by the police, about 40 supporters gathered outside the courthouse and chanted slogans to show their solidarity with Pu.

The lawyer Pu Zhiqiang is a courageous and principled citizen of China. He has been indicted on charges of inciting ethnic hatred and picking quarrels to stir up trouble.

The judge should understand that all the Chinese people of the world will be waiting for this 9AM, waiting and watching: Under the greatness of the “Chinese Dream”, how will the machinery of the state handle Pu Zhiqiang and the 600 words that he wrote?

Pu was detained last year after taking part in a meeting commemorating the twenty-fifth anniversary of the crackdown on the Tiananmen student protests of 1989 – an event he marked every year.