A Chinese lawyer was sentenced to seven years in prison yesterday in the third in a series of subversion trials demonstrating the ruling Chinese Communist Party’s determination to silence independent human rights activists and government critics.
The sentence given to Zhou Shifeng (周世鋒) results from his role as director of Fengrui Law Firm in Beijing, which took on sensitive cases and represented people who dared challenge the party.
Zhou, 52, accepted the ruling and would not appeal, Xinhua news agency reported.
His half-day trial in the northern city of Tianjin followed those of two related legal activists earlier this week, both on charges of subversion. As with the others, Zhou was detained in July last year during a sweeping roundup of activists and lawyers.
About 300 people were initially seized and questioned before most were released.
Zhou was accused of coming under the influence of “anti-China forces” and opposing the government and political system. He was also accused of opposing the “one country, two systems” policy applied in Hong Kong and Macau.
Zhou “played a major role in a group of activists who attempted to manipulate public opinion and damage national security by spreading subversive thoughts,” state media quoted the verdict as saying.
It said Zhou worked with activists Hu Shigen (胡石根), Zhai Yanmin (翟巖民) and Li Heping (李和平) “to encourage lawyers to highlight sensitive cases and hired protesters to disturb the judicial system.”
Hu was given a seven-and-a-half-year sentence on Wednesday and Zhai a suspended three-year sentence on Tuesday, while Li is being tried separately.
Zhou also “asked administrative officers in the law firm to post anti-government comments online to stir up public sentiment,” the verdict said.
Zhou established Fengrui in 2007 and the following year took on one of the nation’s biggest dairies in a massive tainted infant formula scandal that the government had tried to squelch. The firm also represented clients targeted by the government, including members of the banned Falun Gong sect and activist artist Ai Weiwei (艾未未).
Zhou’s final case involved Zhang Miao (張淼), a news assistant for the German weekly Die Zeit, who was detained for nine months after helping with the magazine’s coverage of pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong.
Zhou was meeting Zhang at a hotel in suburban Beijing following her release when he was seized, hooded and driven away by agents.
This week’s trials are part of a pattern established under the administration of Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) to use more sophisticated legal means to attack perceived opponents.
The trials show China is intent on silencing anyone who “raises legitimate questions about human rights and uses the legal system to seek redress,” Amnesty International said in a statement.
“The authorities are using vague legal provisions as a weapon to give their politically motivated assault the veneer of legitimacy. When state security laws are open to such rampant abuse, the law needs to change,” Amnesty International East Asia research director Roseann Rife said in the statement.
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