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| Chinese Rights Lawyer, Pu Zhiqiang, Is Given Suspended Prison Sentence | Chinese Rights Lawyer, Pu Zhiqiang, Is Given Suspended Prison Sentence |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| BEIJING — One of China’s most prominent human rights lawyers was given a suspended prison sentence on Tuesday after being convicted of two charges in connection with his provocative online criticism of the government, state-run media reported. | BEIJING — One of China’s most prominent human rights lawyers was given a suspended prison sentence on Tuesday after being convicted of two charges in connection with his provocative online criticism of the government, state-run media reported. |
| The sentence — three years in prison, with a three-year reprieve — meant that the lawyer, Pu Zhiqiang, 50, would go free, and that he would not serve more time behind bars unless he committed another offense, said Liang Xiaojun, a criminal defense attorney. But Mr. Liang said the conviction also meant that Mr. Pu would no longer be allowed to practice law. | The sentence — three years in prison, with a three-year reprieve — meant that the lawyer, Pu Zhiqiang, 50, would go free, and that he would not serve more time behind bars unless he committed another offense, said Liang Xiaojun, a criminal defense attorney. But Mr. Liang said the conviction also meant that Mr. Pu would no longer be allowed to practice law. |
| Mr. Pu, who was arrested in May 2014, was tried on Dec. 14 before a three-judge panel of the Second Intermediate People’s Court of Beijing on charges of “inciting ethnic hatred” and “picking quarrels and provoking trouble” in connection with a series of comments he made on the Internet. The news of his conviction and sentence Tuesday was announced by the state-run broadcaster CCTV. | Mr. Pu, who was arrested in May 2014, was tried on Dec. 14 before a three-judge panel of the Second Intermediate People’s Court of Beijing on charges of “inciting ethnic hatred” and “picking quarrels and provoking trouble” in connection with a series of comments he made on the Internet. The news of his conviction and sentence Tuesday was announced by the state-run broadcaster CCTV. |
| The Obama administration has protested the arrest of Mr. Pu, and before the trial began last week, a senior official of the American Embassy read a statement outside the courthouse calling for Mr. Pu’s release and expressing concern that he was being tried “under vague charges.” | The Obama administration has protested the arrest of Mr. Pu, and before the trial began last week, a senior official of the American Embassy read a statement outside the courthouse calling for Mr. Pu’s release and expressing concern that he was being tried “under vague charges.” |
| But China’s party-run legal system rarely reverses course once a figure deemed to be politically hostile has been arrested. Senior party officials, not judges, are believed to decide the sentences in such cases. | But China’s party-run legal system rarely reverses course once a figure deemed to be politically hostile has been arrested. Senior party officials, not judges, are believed to decide the sentences in such cases. |
| Mr. Pu’s lawyer, Mo Shaoping, had said in an interview Monday that a heavy sentence for Mr. Pu appeared unlikely. | Mr. Pu’s lawyer, Mo Shaoping, had said in an interview Monday that a heavy sentence for Mr. Pu appeared unlikely. |
| Mr. Pu is the most prominent rights lawyer to be arrested during a far-reaching crackdown on dissent under the leadership of President Xi Jinping. That campaign has centered on lawyers, rights advocates and journalists, and the authorities have detained several hundred of them. A number have been tried in courts and imprisoned. | Mr. Pu is the most prominent rights lawyer to be arrested during a far-reaching crackdown on dissent under the leadership of President Xi Jinping. That campaign has centered on lawyers, rights advocates and journalists, and the authorities have detained several hundred of them. A number have been tried in courts and imprisoned. |
| Amnesty International criticized the court’s ruling on Tuesday, noting that it would halt Mr. Pu’s work as a lawyer. | |
| “Clearly it is positive that Pu Zhiqiang is unlikely to spend another night in jail, yet that cannot hide the gross injustice against him,” William Nee, a China researcher for the rights group, said in a statement. “He is no criminal and this guilty verdict effectively shackles one of China’s bravest champions of human rights from practicing law.” | |
| In finding Mr. Pu guilty on speech-related charges, the court focused on the very issue — freedom of expression — that the lawyer had defended as a basic right for many of his clients. | In finding Mr. Pu guilty on speech-related charges, the court focused on the very issue — freedom of expression — that the lawyer had defended as a basic right for many of his clients. |
| At a time when the government has clamped down on the Internet and tried to keep Western influence at bay by blocking websites it deems unfriendly, the prosecution appears to have used seven social media posts by Mr. Pu to build its case. | At a time when the government has clamped down on the Internet and tried to keep Western influence at bay by blocking websites it deems unfriendly, the prosecution appears to have used seven social media posts by Mr. Pu to build its case. |
| The posts on Weibo, a popular Chinese microblog service similar to Twitter, were outlined in a document carrying the letterhead of Beijing Mo Shaoping Law Firm, which represents him. | The posts on Weibo, a popular Chinese microblog service similar to Twitter, were outlined in a document carrying the letterhead of Beijing Mo Shaoping Law Firm, which represents him. |
| In the posts stretching back to 2011, Mr. Pu criticized China’s assimilation policies in the restive province of Xinjiang, home to a large ethnic minority population of Uighurs. He took aim at the competence of two well-known legislators, including Mao Xinyu, the grandson of Mao Zedong. He was also scathing about the government’s policies in Tibet. | In the posts stretching back to 2011, Mr. Pu criticized China’s assimilation policies in the restive province of Xinjiang, home to a large ethnic minority population of Uighurs. He took aim at the competence of two well-known legislators, including Mao Xinyu, the grandson of Mao Zedong. He was also scathing about the government’s policies in Tibet. |
| The state-run news agency Xinhua said Tuesday that during his trial, Mr. Pu had “acknowledged the crimes the prosecutors charged him with.” But Mr. Mo, the defense attorney, said Monday that Mr. Pu, while conceding that he had made some mistakes, had not admitted guilt. | |
| A man with a tall physique and a resonant voice befitting a courtroom, Mr. Pu drifted into law in the early 1990s after participating in the 1989 pro-democracy Tiananmen Square movement, which was brutally squashed by the army. | A man with a tall physique and a resonant voice befitting a courtroom, Mr. Pu drifted into law in the early 1990s after participating in the 1989 pro-democracy Tiananmen Square movement, which was brutally squashed by the army. |
| But he soon understood how he could make a difference to people’s lives by defending them against the system, particularly on matters of freedom of speech. He has represented the artist Ai Weiwei, writers and journalists, and a former labor camp prisoner who sued her captors. | But he soon understood how he could make a difference to people’s lives by defending them against the system, particularly on matters of freedom of speech. He has represented the artist Ai Weiwei, writers and journalists, and a former labor camp prisoner who sued her captors. |
| One of Mr. Pu’s close friends, the dissident Hu Jia, said in an interview that Mr. Pu loved to mock the injustices of the Communist system, and did so with a piercing and poetic voice that ordinary people could understand. | One of Mr. Pu’s close friends, the dissident Hu Jia, said in an interview that Mr. Pu loved to mock the injustices of the Communist system, and did so with a piercing and poetic voice that ordinary people could understand. |
| “When he was in a room, his big physique dominated everything and his voice was like a commanding bell,” Mr. Hu said. | “When he was in a room, his big physique dominated everything and his voice was like a commanding bell,” Mr. Hu said. |
| Mr. Pu was detained in May 2014 after attending a gathering in a professor’s home in Beijing to commemorate the people killed during the 1989 protests. He was held without charges for one year, during which his health suffered. In May, prosecutors announced they planned to indict him. | Mr. Pu was detained in May 2014 after attending a gathering in a professor’s home in Beijing to commemorate the people killed during the 1989 protests. He was held without charges for one year, during which his health suffered. In May, prosecutors announced they planned to indict him. |