{"id":5696,"date":"2015-09-30T01:08:34","date_gmt":"2015-09-30T05:08:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.chinesepen.org\/english\/?p=5696"},"modified":"2015-09-30T01:08:34","modified_gmt":"2015-09-30T05:08:34","slug":"china-tries-two-opposition-party-activists-for-subversion","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.chinesepen.org\/english\/china-tries-two-opposition-party-activists-for-subversion","title":{"rendered":"China Tries Two Opposition Party Activists For Subversion"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.chinesepen.org\/english\/files\/2015\/09\/image-25.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright size-medium wp-image-5697\" src=\"http:\/\/www.chinesepen.org\/english\/files\/2015\/09\/image-25-300x215.jpg\" alt=\"image (25)\" width=\"300\" height=\"215\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.chinesepen.org\/english\/files\/2015\/09\/image-25-300x215.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.chinesepen.org\/english\/files\/2015\/09\/image-25.jpg 622w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a>2015-09-29<\/p>\n<p>Authorities in the eastern Chinese province of Zhejiang on Tuesday ended the subversion trial of two members of a banned opposition party after both men pleaded not guilty, their lawyers said.<\/p>\n<p>Lu Gengsong and Chen Shuqing, both members of the banned opposition China Democracy Party (CDP), <!--more-->stood trial on Tuesday at the Hangzhou Intermediate People&#8217;s Court for &#8220;incitement to subvert state power,&#8221;<br \/>\ntheir lawyers said.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;We had a spirited debate about the defendants&#8217; membership of the CDP, and their activism within it, as well as articles they published overseas,&#8221; Chen&#8217;s defense attorney Fu Yonggang told RFA after the three-hour trial ended.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;They claimed that their attending a meeting in Huangshan and a condolence event was evidence of subversion,&#8221; Fu said. &#8220;I challenged them, asking what part of those actions constituted incitement to subvert state power.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Around a dozen supporters braved the rain to gather outside the court buildings, which were cordoned off by police and plainclothes officers.<\/p>\n<p>Supporters were denied permission to enter the courtroom, while three entry permits were issued to each family.<\/p>\n<p>Fu said the prosecution&#8217;s case hinged on the two men&#8217;s activities with the CDP, and also on the publication of articles on overseas websites.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Their intentions were good; they wanted their country to improve, and for its people to be happier,&#8221; he said.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;There were a lot of constructive opinions expressed in them.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Chen&#8217;s wife Zhang Donghong said her husband had pleaded not guilty, repeating his plea in his final statement.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;I was there for the whole trial,&#8221; Zhang said. &#8220;He tried to explain the relevant views of the CDP.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>She added: &#8220;Chen Shuqing seemed in fairly good spirits, and he didn&#8217;t seem to have lost or gained weight.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;He spoke very well, although I can&#8217;t repeat all that he said to you,&#8221; she said, adding: &#8220;I thought that everything lawyers Liu and Fu said was very reasonable.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Lu&#8217;s defense attorney Mo Shaoping said his client was tried at the same time for the same crime.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;They talked about his articles, and the meeting in Huangshan, and a few other gatherings,&#8221; Mo said.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;We argued that he is not guilty, on the basis that the prosecution had insufficient evidence,&#8221; he said.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;It&#8217;s finished now, and there was no verdict; that will be announced soon,&#8221; Mo added.<\/p>\n<p>Fellow defense attorney Ding Xikui said Lu, 58, had been prevented from finishing his final statement by court officials.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;There was too much language in it that the court officials didn&#8217;t agree with, such as comments about the [ruling Chinese] Communist Party, and about persecution, illegal actions by the authorities,&#8221; Ding said.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;He spoke for a very long time, and eventually they cut him off, wouldn&#8217;t let him finish,&#8221; he said.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;They told him that the words he was using were a threat to state security, were the language of incitement to subvert state power,&#8221; he said.<\/p>\n<p>Fellow defense lawyer Liu Shuqing said the defense had also been denied permission to call witnesses during the trial.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;My client Chen Shuqing spoke in a spirited way in his own defense, and pleaded not guilty,&#8221; Liu said. &#8220;Overall, I think I and Fu Yonggang made a pretty good argument that he wasn&#8217;t guilty, too.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/www.rfa.org\/english\/news\/china\/china-tries-two-opposition-party-activists-for-subversion-09292015101332.html\">For detail please visit here<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>2015-09-29 Authorities in the eastern Ch &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.chinesepen.org\/english\/china-tries-two-opposition-party-activists-for-subversion\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[35,45],"tags":[948,950,1242],"views":7378,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.chinesepen.org\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5696"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.chinesepen.org\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.chinesepen.org\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.chinesepen.org\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.chinesepen.org\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5696"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.chinesepen.org\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5696\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5698,"href":"https:\/\/www.chinesepen.org\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5696\/revisions\/5698"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.chinesepen.org\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5696"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.chinesepen.org\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5696"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.chinesepen.org\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5696"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}