Move FM Global News

BEIJING, China: In the latest in President Xi Jinping’s crackdown on civil society, a court in China has sentenced two prominent human rights lawyers, Xu Zhiyong and Ding Jiaxi, to more than a decade in prison each, relatives and rights groups have reported.

Relatives told Reuters that Xu, 50, and Ding, 55, prominent figures in the New Citizens Movement, went on trial behind closed doors in June 2022 at a court in Linshu county in the northeastern province of Shandong, with both being charged with state subversion.

The New Citizens Movement sought greater transparency into the wealth of officials and for Chinese citizens to be able to exercise their civil rights, as per the country’s constitution.

In a telephone interview with Reuters, Ding’s wife Luo Shengchun, who lives in the US and has pursued his case with US State Department officials, said, “Their lawyers are forbidden from publishing court verdict documents and they do not dare to reveal where they were sentenced and under what charges.”

“I will not let them put Ding Jiaxi and Xu Zhiyong in jail so easily.”
Xu received a jail term of 14 years and Ding was sentenced to 12 years, she added, stressing that she will continue pressing for additional information.

Meanwhile, China’s foreign ministry said it was not aware of the cases.

At a daily briefing, ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin told reporters, “China is a country governed by law, all are treated equally under the law and cases are handled in accordance with the law.”

Xu and Ding been held for more than three years, with Ding being arrested by police in December 2019 after attending a gathering in southern China with some 20 other lawyers and activists.