One of China’s most prominent rights activists was yesterday released by the authorities after serving a four-year sentence that prompted international criticism, with his lawyer saying he hoped he would be allowed to live as a free man.
Xu Zhiyong (許志永), whose “New Citizens’ Movement” advocated working within the system to press for change, was detained in 2013 and subsequently convicted of “gathering a crowd to disturb public order.”
One of the group’s main demands had been for Chinese officials to publicly disclose their assets, a demand taken against the backdrop of the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) own efforts to crack down on deep-seated corruption under Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平).
Photo: AP
Xu’s lawyer Zhang Qingfang (張慶方) said he had brought Xu up to speed with “events on the outside,” including the death of fellow activist and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Liu Xiaobo (劉曉波).
He said Xu was “upset” on hearing the news.
Zhang said Xu, who was released from his jail on Beijing’s outskirts yesterday morning, was in good physical condition and had few immediate plans beyond spending time with family.
At the height of Xu’s activism, he attracted hundreds of supporters who participated in activities related to the movement, having first gained prominence in 2003 for helping victims of tainted baby formula and migrant workers without access to healthcare and education.
It prompted a crackdown from the CCP, which swiftly crushes any perceived challenge to its rule.
“The idea of the New Citizens’ Movement is not to overthrow, but to establish,” he wrote in a 2010 essay.
“It’s not one social class displacing another social class, but allowing righteousness to take its place in China,” he said.
Xu refused to defend himself in his 2014 trial and remained silent as a way to protest what Zhang said was a controlled legal process where a guilty outcome was a foregone conclusion.
As international rights groups and foreign governments call for Chinese authorities to guarantee freedom for Liu’s widow, Liu Xia (劉霞), Xu’s supporters have also expressed concern whether he will remain under close watch or effective house arrest.
Some said on social media they were barred by security guards and plain-clothed officers from entering Xu’s apartment compound yesterday.
Other high-profile and politically sensitive prisoners released from jail, including rights lawyer Pu Zhiqiang (浦志強) and journalist Gao Yu (高瑜), remain closely watched by the Chinese authorities.
“I hope he will be completely free,” Zhang said.
Xu taught law at a Beijing university and ran in a local election. He became prominent over a drive to abolish “custody and repatriation” powers, a form of arbitrary detention used by local governments to sweep homeless people off the streets.
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