Chinese activist Xu Zhiyong indicted over series of anti-corruption protests
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Version 0 of 1. Chinese prosecutors have formally indicted prominent activist Xu Zhiyong four months after he was arrested for organising protests against official corruption, his lawyer said. Xu founded the New Citizen's Movement, a loose-knit grassroots organisation that aimed to promote government transparency, rule of law and education equality. Police arrested about 20 members of the group in a protracted crackdown this spring, after they unfurled banners in Beijing calling for officials to declare their assets. Xu's lawyer Zhang Qingfang said prosecutors in Beijing notified him of his client's indictment on Friday. "So far, I still haven't seen the formal charges by the prosecution – I'll probably be able to see them on Monday," he said. "But my prediction is that they'll try him for the charge of 'assembling a crowd to disrupt order in a public place'." The charge carries a maximum five-year sentence. Zhang said the trial will likely be held within the next few weeks. The prosecutor's office could not be reached for comment. While the New Citizens Movement's message seemed to dovetail with President Xi Jinping's anti-corruption drive, the crackdown on such groups underscores his administration's zero-tolerance attitude towards dissent. Xu was placed under house arrest in June, detained in July, and formally arrested in August. Beijing police recommended that prosecutors try him last week. They accused Xu of organising a series of small protests in the city dating back to late 2009, many of which concerned drawing "large crowds of onlookers" by "instigating" people to unfurl banners displaying anti-graft messages. On Monday, the US secretary of state, John Kerry, expressed "deep concern" with China's treatment of activists including Xu, and urged Chinese authorities to free 2010 Nobel peace prize-winner Liu Xiaobo, who is serving an 11-year jail term for subversion. China's foreign ministry rejected Kerry's appeal. "They [activists] deserve to be punished by law," a spokesman, Hong Lei, told a regular news conference on Tuesday. "I need to emphasise that only the 1.3 billion Chinese people are best qualified to pass judgment over China's human rights condition." Xu, a former law lecturer at the Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications, has a long-held reputation for taking on groundbreaking legal causes. He has campaigned for death row inmates and families effected by a poisoned milk formula scandal in 2009. A courthouse in Xinyu, south-east China's Jiangxi province, tried three New Citizens Movement activists earlier this month, but has not yet released a verdict. Lawyer Pu Zhiqiang told Agence France-Presse that police beat one of the defendants, Liu Ping, while she was in detention; according to Liu's daughter Liao Minyue, and that defence witnesses were barred from attending the trial. Our editors' picks for the day's top news and commentary delivered to your inbox each morning. |