China charges detained rights lawyer with subversion of power

A court in China has charged detained human rights lawyer Yu Wensheng with “inciting subversion of state power” according to his wife Xu Yan.

The wife of the detained lawyer also said the police summoned her after she gave interviews to foreign media as China continues its clampdown on activists and lawyers in the country.

Xu said police informed her on Saturday that her husband was being charged with “inciting subversion of state power” rather than the original lighter charge of “obstructing a public service.

Read also: TUNISIA: 770 arrested over protests against plans to raise taxes, basic goods

Two weeks ago, authorities in China also jailed another activist Joshua Wong for three months for his role in the 2014 pro-democracy protests against the perceived increase of authoritarian influence in the country.

Wong who was the public face of the protests along with other activists was found guilty of contempt of court for blocking clearance of a protest site.

This is the second prison sentence related to the 2014 that Wong is serving and he had been on bail pending an appeal against another six-month term in a separate case linked to the protests.

 

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