2015-11-13
Supporters of activist Zhang Shengyu hold a placard outside the Intermediate People’s Court in Guangzhou, south China’s Guangdong province, Nov. 13, 2015.
(Photo courtesy of activists)
Two activists in the southern Chinese province of Guangdong stood trial on Friday charged with subversion linked to social media posts and campaigns for human rights and democracy, their lawyers said.
Liang Qinhui, also known by his online nickname “Sharp Knife,” and Zhang Shengyu who showed public support for last year’s pro-democracy Umbrella Movement in Hong Kong, were tried separately at the Guangzhou Intermediate People’s Court.
Liang, 32, was detained in April and accused of posting “sensitive and extreme” comments to the popular chatroom site QQ, according to the indictment, with the prosecution focusing in particular on his comment: “Better to be an American dog than a Chinese pig.”
The line of text was an apparent reference to the Mao-era description of the United States as “capitalist running dogs,” and comes against a background of underground satirical cartoons in the style of George Orwell’s Animal Farm showing pigs dressed as ruling Chinese Communist Party officials.
His lawyer Wu Kuiming said the trial went smoothly and that Liang’s defense team had entered a plea of not guilty.
“We are of the opinion that this is a freedom of speech case, based on the evidence and the material facts of the case,” Wu told RFA after the trial ended.
“We told them in court that his posts and articles formed part of a debate on matters of public interest, and constituted nothing but his personal opinion,” Wu said. “He never had any contact with any other citizens offline.”
“The prosecution believed that there was evidence that he had sought to incite others to overthrow the socialist system,” he said.
According to the indictment, Liang’s postings “show evidence of foreign influence,” citing his use of the web circumvention tool Freegate to view overseas websites normally blocked by China’s censorship system, collectively known as the Great Firewall.
It also cites a post titled “I won’t be a descendant of Marx and Lenin,” which was posted on a public chatroom in QQ “attracting widespread public attention.”
He also downloaded photos and altered them to include slogans calling on people to “save Chinese compatriots from the Chinese communist bandits,” the indictment said.
Liang’s fiancee Fu Yuqin said she believed Wu had made an excellent defense of Liang, and rejected the charges against him.
“You can’t say someone has committed a crime because of [the number of visits] to his profile page,” Fu said. “Surely that’s too far-fetched.”
She added: “He’s just a regular guy; it’s highly unlikely he is going to try to bring down the government.”
Remaining silent
Meanwhile, Guangzhou-based activist Zhang Shengyu was also on trial on the same charges following years of vocal activism and campaigning for democracy and a constitutional government.
However, the trial ended early after Zhang, 46, refused to cooperate with the proceedings, his lawyer said.
“The trial ended at around 12:10 p.m., because Zhang Shengyu refused to recognize the court’s jurisdiction, and remained silent,” defense attorney Liu Zhengqing told RFA.
“When they asked him about the evidence, he just said he didn’t remember, so it wrapped up very quickly,” he said.
“But the judges weren’t listening anyway, however well we spoke in his defense,” Liu said, adding that Zhang had reported being beaten up and locked in solitary confinement for six days during his time in the police-run detention center.
He had refused to bargain with prosecutors who offered him a lighter sentence, he said.
“The prosecution said that he would get a lighter punishment if he pleaded guilty, but he refused and said he was hoping for a heavier sentence, and that he is innocent,” Liu said.
“He wanted to do this to show up the darkness inherent in the Communist Party,” he added.