Police switch charge against five jailed Chinese women activists from 'picking fights' to 'public disorder'
Feminists now accused of causing public disorder in earlier campaigns
Police have changed their charge against the five women activists detained last month, apparently accusing them of causing public disorder in earlier street campaigns rather than targeting their recent plans to distribute anti-sexual-harassment materials, one of their lawyers said.
Lawyer Liang Xiaojun said yesterday police had changed the charge from "picking quarrels and provoking trouble" to "assembling a crowd to disrupt order in a public place" when they applied to the prosecution authorities to formally arrest them.
Both charges carry up to five years' jail time.
In the past few years, many civil rights activists, most notably New Citizens' Movement founder Xu Zhiyong, have been jailed on public order charges.
Wu Rongrong told Liang last week that police repeatedly interrogated her over her role in the 2012 "Occupy Men's Rooms" campaign for more women's toilets.
Wu, Li Tingting, Wei Tingting, Wang Man and Zheng Churan were initially believed to have been taken into custody for their plans to campaign against sexual harassment on buses and trains.
Liang said the other women's lawyers said some were interrogated over a "Bloodstained Bride" campaign, during which they had posed in wedding dresses smeared in red to draw attention to domestic violence.
Liang speculated police were using the more specific public order charge to make a case that the women endangered public security. Authorities were probably also wary that some who took part in the "Occupy Men's Rooms" campaign had become active campaigners, he said.
Beijing police did not respond to a request for comment.
