AFP, BEIJING: Police and men in plainclothes scuffled with supporters of one of China’s most celebrated human rights lawyers Monday as he was tried over online comments critical of the ruling Communist Party.
Dozens of Pu Zhiqiang’s supporters travelled from across the country, some for thousands of kilometres, to protest outside the courtroom in Beijing. The crowd was shoved hundreds of metres away and shouted “Pu Zhiqiang! Innocent!” before being broken up by police who said they had obstructed the pavement.
Authorities dragged at least three people away, an AFP reporter at the scene saw, and shoved at least two to the ground. Pu, who has represented labour camp victims and dissident artist Ai Weiwei, was detained a year and a half ago in a nationwide crackdown on critics.
He faces a maximum of eight years in jail on charges of “inciting ethnic hatred” and “picking quarrels and provoking trouble”, according to his lawyer Mo Shaoping.