A
total of seven activists are being criminally detained after gathering
outside a court in Beijing during the trial of prominent human rights
lawyer Pu Zhiqiang. Three of those detained have not been given access
to their lawyers.
Activists Zhang Zhan, Wang Su'e, Qu Hongxia, Ran Chongbi, Li Meiqing, Wen Rengui and Sheng Lanfu
are currently detained in the Fengtai Detention Centre in Beijing on
suspicion of "picking quarrels and provoking trouble”, a charge often
used by the authorities to suppress freedom of expression. Six of the
activists were taken away by plain-clothes police officers on 14
December from outside Beijing No. 2 Intermediate People's Court, where
they had gathered with several hundred supporters of Pu Zhiqiang. Pu
Zhiqiang was standing trial for "inciting ethnic hatred" and "picking
quarrels and provoking trouble”, primarily on the basis of seven social
media posts in which he criticized the government. Li Meiqing was taken
away from outside the court on 22 December, when Pu Zhiqiang received a
three-year suspended sentence.
According
to eyewitnesses, people started being taken away by police even though
the crowd was peaceful. Foreign diplomats and journalists were also
involved in scuffles with police outside the trial, and were prevented
from entering the court building.
Qu
Hongxia, Wang Su'e, Zhang Zhan and Li Meiqing have been able to meet
with their lawyers, while the other three have not yet been allowed to
do so.
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