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发帖数: 372 | 1 http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-china-39843680
China human rights lawyer Xie Yang 'admits being brainwashed'
8 May 2017
From the section China
CHEN GUIQIU
Image caption
Xie Yang was detained in July 2015
A Chinese court says a prominent human rights lawyer, Xie Yang, has admitted
being "brainwashed" overseas at his trial for inciting subversion.
It released transcripts in which he says he was trained in Hong Kong and
South Korea to "develop Western constitutionalism in China".
In a video, he denies being maltreated since his arrest in July 2015.
The lawyer's wife and human rights activists have both said that Mr Xie was
tortured in custody.
His trial appears to have been held without advance public warning, the BBC'
s John Sudworth reports from Beijing, and there was no way foreign
journalists could verify the court transcripts which, like the video, were
released on Weibo, China's equivalent to Twitter.
He is one a number of prominent lawyers put on trial recently who have
mostly represented land grab victims and campaigners for democratic reform.
Such cases are considered highly sensitive by the authorities.
President Xi Jinping has overseen increasing restrictions on civil society
while warning that Western ideals present a threat to national security.
Concern for human rights lawyers
The victims of China's 'War on Law' crackdown
China human rights lawyer Li Heping given suspended jail term
Chinese human rights report attacks US 'hypocrisy'
Mr Xie has been charged with "inciting subversion of state power and
disrupting court order".
"My actions go against my role as a lawyer," he said in the video released
by the Changsha Intermediate People's Court.
"I want to take this opportunity to express to other rights lawyers my view
now that we should give up using contact with foreign media and independent
media to hype sensitive news events, attack judicial institutions and smear
the image of the nation's party organs while handling cases."
In a precarious situation: Analysis by James Tsao, BBC Chinese
Detained lawyers and human rights activists in China are often subject to
similar show trials and abuses as those allegedly endured by Xie Yang. Human
rights activists say that few if any receive a fair trial.
Mr Xie has worked on a number of cases considered politically sensitive by
China's ruling Communist Party and was among hundreds of lawyers and
activists detained in what became known as the "709 crackdown" - named after
the date of the first disappearance of a group of lawyers on 9 July 2015.
It was part of the toughest government action against Chinese civil society
for years. Although the majority of those held were released on bail, last
year six of them were found guilty of serious crimes, with some sentenced
for up to seven years in prison.
Mr Xie is now in a precarious position - he has not endeared himself to the
government by defending mainland supporters of Hong Kong democracy activists.
AFP
Image caption
Mr Xie's supporters have staged gatherings on his behalf outside the
Intermediate People's Court in Changsha
Patrick Poon, of human rights group Amnesty International, said the Chinese
authorities had wanted to use his trial "to discredit his lawyers and the
western media".
On Friday, the UN human rights office demanded that the Chinese government
release all lawyers and activists that it said were being held simply for
defending the basic rights of Chinese citizens.
Last week Mr Xie's lawyer, Chen Jiangang, was himself detained by police.
Mr Xie's US-based wife said in January that he had been tortured while in
custody.
US-based charity Chinese Human Rights Defenders says that Mr Xie informed
his lawyers earlier this year that police had subjected him to extensive
sleep deprivation, prolonged interrogations, beatings and death threats to
get him to confess his guilt and incriminate colleagues. |
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