Following a closed trial in Shandong province (China), two lawyers specializing in the defense of human rights were sentenced to heavy prison terms. Xu Zhiyong was sentenced to 14 years in prison, Human Rights Watch said. Ding Jiaxi will have to serve a twelve-year prison sentence, announced his wife Luo Shengchun.
Sentenced for “subversion of state power”
She expressed her concern about the torture her husband might be subjected to in prison. The lawyer is also prohibited from exercising an official function for three years. The two Chinese were found guilty of “subversion of state power”. They are emblematic members of the New Citizens Movement, which calls for reform of the country’s constitution and denounces government corruption.
Xu Zhiyong, for example, had called for the resignation of President Xi Jinping. He criticized him for his poor management of the health crisis linked to Covid-19 and the pro-democracy demonstrations in Hong Kong. He was arrested in February 2020. Ding Jiaxi was arrested in December 2019 for having participated in a meeting of lawyers and human rights defenders.