xu zhiyong

Criminal Detentions Rise Following Abolition of Re-education Through Labor

As the South China Morning Post points out, and as the Laogai Research Foundation predicted last year, Chinese authorities have increasingly relied on criminal detention and alternative forms of administrative detention to jail activists following the abolition of re-education-through-labor (RTL) in November 2013.

Beijing Court Sentences Four Activists Associated With the New Citizens Movement

A court in Beijing sentenced four activists on charges of “gathering a crowd to disturb public order” on account of their participation in the New Citizens Movement, a loose collection of activists and lawyers who seek to promote the rule of law and have called on government officials to publicly disclose their assets.

Xu Zhiyong Sentenced to Four Years

The Beijing Intermediate People’s Court sentenced lawyer and civil society activist Xu Zhiyong to four years in prison for “gathering a crowd to disrupt public order.” The charges leveled against Xu stem from the pivotal role he played in organizing the New Citizens Movement, a loose collection of activists that has sought to develop Chinese civil society and urged Communist Party officials to publicly disclose their wealth.

Activists, Petitioners, and Journalists Harassed and Detained at Trial of Xu Zhiyong

The Chinese government dispatched ten busloads of police to harass and detain activists, petitioners, and journalists who gathered outside of Beijing’s Number One Intermediate People’s Court during the trial of Xu Zhiyong, a prominent lawyer and activist. Chen Yunfei, a Sichuan-based activist who was detained by police for gathering outside the court, claimed that several hundred police and plainclothes state security officials lined the streets of the intersection outside of the court.

The Trials of At Least Eight Activists to Begin This Week

The trials of at least eight people associated with the New Citizens Movement will begin this week in Beijing. The New Citizens Movement is a loose collection of Chinese citizens who promote constitutionalism and have urged Communist Party officials to disclose their personal wealth. 

Xu Zhiyong, the most prominent of the accused, will face trial on Wednesday. Charges leveled against the activists range from “unfurling banners, issuing leaflets, and using an amplifier to give speeches” to “assembling a crowd to disrupt order in a public space.”

Trial of Xu Zhiyong to Begin Next Week

The trial of Xu Zhiyong, lawyer and co-founder of the New Citizens Movement-a loosely organized group of activists seeking to develop Chinese civil society-will begin on Wednesday, January 25. Xu is accused of “organizing, planning and inciting” a series of public “incidents” and making “banners and leaflets.” Under Chinese law, the charges carry a maximum sentence of five years, and observers fear Xu will receive the harshest sentence possible.

The Verdict is In: Bo Xilai’s Trial Shows China Lacks Rule-of-Law

bo-xilai-trial_2650254b.jpg“We must firmly establish, throughout society, the authority of the Constitution and the law.” This was not the rallying cry of a Chinese dissident encouraging fellow activists from behind bars, but rather a statement issued last year by current Chinese President Xi Jinping on the need to enhance the rule-of-law in order to effectively tackle corruption.