Human rights lawyer swept up in ‘709 crackdown’ to face court in Tianjin for subversion
Chinese prosecutors lay formal charges against rights advocate rounded up in national crackdown
A Chinese human rights lawyer swept up in a massive crackdown 19 months ago has been indicted for subversion.
Prosecutors in Tianjin indicted Wang Quanzhang on charges of “inciting subversion of state power” on Tuesday, his wife, Li Wenzu, said on Wednesday.
Wang will be tried in the Tianjin No 2 Intermediate People’s Court, where three other lawyers and an advocate rounded up in the “709 crackdown” were tried in August. They were sentenced to three to seven years in jail on subversion charges.
The term “709” refers to the start of the crackdown on July 9, 2015. About 300 rights lawyers and activists were detained, interrogated or threatened in what some rights groups and observers have called the harshest crackdown on human rights and civil society in decades.
Yesterday was Wang’s 41st birthday and his second in custody since the crackdown. His wife and two lawyers have not been allowed to visit or speak to him since.
Li, who married Wang more than five years ago, said she had never doubted her husband’s innocence.“[The authorities] have been looking into the case for a year and seven months. If they have enough evidence, why would they put off the charges for so long?” she said.