Chinese rights lawyer Lu Siwei sentenced to 11 months in prison

[ad_1] Distinguished Chinese language rights lawyer Lu Siwei, who was arrested and deported from Laos in 2023, was sentenced behind closed doorways in China to 11 months in jail on Friday, his spouse instructed Radio Free Asia.

Lu, 52, who was accused of unlawful border crossing, plans to enchantment the sentence by the Chenghua District Courtroom in Chengdu, southwestern Sichuan province, mentioned his spouse Zhang Chunxiao, who lives in the USA. The court docket additionally fined him 10,000 yuan ($1,370).

Regardless of holding a U.S. visa and Chinese language passport, Lu was arrested within the Lao capital Vientiane in July 2023 whereas en route to affix his household in America. He was detained within the Southeast Asian nation for greater than a month, earlier than being forcibly repatriated to China.

An insurance coverage lawyer by career, Lu is well-known for taking over many politically delicate circumstances, together with defending one of many 12 Hong Kong activists jailed within the southern Chinese language province of Guangdong after they have been caught fleeing by boat to Taiwan in 2020.

He was stripped of his authorized license in 2021, banned from worldwide journey, and has confronted repeated harassment and fixed surveillance for his human rights actions.

Rights campaigners have mentioned his arrest in Laos and compelled repatriation illustrates the rising and oppressive attain of Chinese language authorities past China’s borders, also known as transnational repression.

On his arrival in China, Lu was held in Sichuan’s Xindu Detention Heart till his launch on “bail, pending trial” in late October of 2023. He was formally arrested once more a yr later, in October 2024, as Chinese language authorities sought to maneuver forward with prosecuting him on prices of unlawful border crossing from China to Laos.

Lu’s legal professionals on Friday pleaded for a discount in his sentence, citing time he has beforehand served throughout his detention overseas in Laos. However these requests have been rejected, his spouse mentioned.

When taking into consideration the six months Lu has served since his detention final yr and the three months in 2023, the decision also needs to have been introduced on the opening day of the trial, mentioned Zhang.

His legal professionals now count on Lu shall be in jail till at the least Aug. 9, after accounting for time served whereas in detention previous to the closed-door listening to on Friday, she added.

“The legal professionals have been combating for them (the court docket) to carry a public trial, however on the day of the pre-trial assembly on April 16, I heard that somebody who wished to go to the trial was kicked out,” mentioned Zhang.

On Friday too, no spectator passes have been issued and Lu’s buddies have been barred from attending the trial, she mentioned. As an alternative, they have been “...invited for tea, despatched on excursions, and given warnings (by police),” she mentioned.

Each uniformed and plainclothes police presence might be seen outdoors the court docket, the place a number of police automobiles had been deployed, a Chengdu activist instructed RFA. He spoke on the situation of anonymity for security causes.

“I noticed police and plainclothes officers strolling round outdoors the court docket, always observing passers-by, which made folks fairly nervous. I didn’t dare to go close to the court docket,” he instructed RFA.