China: Court in China’s Guangdong Jails Human Rights Lawyer For Five Years

January 18, 2019

Chen Wuquan was found guilty of “picking quarrels and stirring up trouble” by a court in Guangdong’s Zhenjiang city and sentenced to five years’ imprisonment.

Chen stood trial alongside six co-defendants on Dec. 25, 2018 at the Zhenjiang Economic and Technological Development Zone District People’s Court, his wife Chen Lianjuan said.

His co-defendants were handed jail terms ranging from one year to 18 months in a sentencing decision handed down on Jan. 9, the Weiquanwang rights website reported.

“They allowed the family members of the defendants to sit in on the trial; three relatives per family,” Chen’s wife Chen Lianjuan said. “There was no verdict or sentence announced at the time.”

“They just made recommendations for a sentence of 5-10 years,” she said. “The court informed the lawyers on Jan. 15, and the lawyers told us to go and collect the judgment from the court.”

Chen’s jailing come after he helped residents of Zhenjiang’s Donghai Island to protest against a reclamation project that damaged the offshore environment and affected their livelihoods.

Chen took part in shoreline protests with banners, and initiated an online petition against the project. He and six protesters were detained in February 2018.

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https://www.rfa.org/english/news/china/lawyer-01182019120223.html

https://chinachange.org/2018/12/31/weather-the-dark-storm-persevere-for-rule-of-law-in-china-a-2019-new-years-message-from-the-china-human-rights-lawyers-group/

http://www.chrlawyers.hk/en/content/chen-wuquan

https://www.hrw.org/news/2019/01/22/trials-china-kept-secret-silencing-lawyers

https://www.lawcouncil.asn.au/media/news/trial-of-mr-wang-quanzhang?fbclid=IwAR0LBoVUPsjE_dfUmTXg9x4dbwOZhy4kv_VuNjLZBDes6RiQCsSnbGkRvQc

Tagged: China