Prosecutors indict rights lawyer just before Kerry visit

In this June 30, 2010 photo, Chinese attorney Pu Zhiqiang speaks during an interview at his office in Beijing

Human rights lawyer Pu Zhiqiang, whose clients ranged from poor farmers to activist-artist Ai Weiwei, was accused of inciting ethnic hatred, as well as picking quarrels and causing troubles, Beijing prosecutors said Friday in a Weibo posting.
China announced the indictment of human rights lawyer Pu Zhiqiang on charges of provoking trouble, days after the U.S. called for an end to his yearlong detention and hours before U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry arrived in Beijing for meetings with top officials.
Pu, whose clients ranged from poor farmers to activist-artist Ai Weiwei, was accused of inciting ethnic hatred, as well as picking quarrels and causing troubles, Beijing prosecutors said Friday in a Weibo posting. The case is based on social-media postings Pu wrote critical of the Communist Party and its policies regarding the indigenous Uighur minority group in the far western region of Xinjiang.
Pu was detained more than a year ago after he attended a meeting to plan a commemoration for the 25th anniversary of Tiananmen Square protests in Beijing.
His detention “appears to be part of a systematic pattern of arrests and detentions of public-interest lawyers, Internet activists, journalists, religious leaders and others who challenge official Chinese policies and actions,” State Department spokesman Jeff Rathke said Friday in Washington.
Rathke said the U.S. is “deeply concerned” and called on Chinese authorities to release Pu immediately, saying Kerry would raise human-rights issues during his visit.
Pu’s indictment clears the way for a trial before the Beijing No. 2 People’s Intermediate Court. Pu faces as much as 10 years in prison if he’s convicted of the charges, according to one of his lawyers, Mo Shaoping.
“We’re going to argue in court that none of the accusations stand,” Mo said. “This case is essentially about freedom of speech and about a citizen’s basic rights. It’s a very important case in this sense.”
Pu initially faced four charges, including inciting separatism and illegally obtaining personal information, Mo said. Prosecutors referred the case back to the police twice, requesting more evidence, he said.
The case is one of the most high-profile brought by Chinese authorities since President Xi Jinping took power in November 2012. Pu, who participated in the 1989 pro-democracy protests, was among several people detained in the run-up to the anniversary of the Tiananmen crackdown.
Last year, several dissidents associated with the New Citizens Movement, a loose grouping of activists that sought to promote rule of law and democracy, were sentenced to prison. Legal scholar Xu Zhiyong, who helped to start the movement, was given a four-year term.
Asked last week about U.S. criticism of Pu’s detention, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying warned against interfering in other countries’ internal matters.
“Some people in the United States have hearts which are too big and hands which are too long,” Hua said. “They always want to be the world’s policeman or judge.” Ting Shi and Nicole Gaouette, Bloomberg