Chinese court expected to uphold five-year jail term for rights lawyer
Guangdong high court unlikely to overturn conviction and sentencing of Tang Jingling, lawyer says
A provincial high court is expected to uphold a five-year jail term handed down to a former human rights lawyer after it heard an appeal related to his conviction for “inciting subversion of state power”, his lawyer said on Tuesday.
The Guangzhou Intermediate People’s Court sentenced Tang Jingling, 45, in January – along with two other activists, Yuan Chaoyang and Wang Qingying, who were jailed for 3½ years and 2½ years, respectively.
The Guangdong Higher People’s Court was due to issue its verdict on Tuesday after both Yuan and Wang appealed against the intermediate court’s decision.
We don’t think there will be any change in the result of such a political case
Tang had refused to lodge any appeal against the January verdict because he considered the system “an unjust court serving an autocracy”, his lawyer, Ge Yongxi, said.
But Tang’s case was included in the appeal hearing that reviewed the verdicts against the other two men because the charges against all three activists were closely linked.
However, Ge said he did not know the outcome of the appeal. “The clerk at the provincial high court was already there with the written [appeal] verdict,” Ge said after meeting his client at a Guangzhou detention centre. “But he would not hand it to Tang in my presence.”
Ge said he was sure the original ruling would be upheld. “It is impossible for the Guangdong Higher People’s Court to make an independent, just ruling,” he said.