On November 3, Xu Wanping, a renowned democracy supporter and human rights activist from Chongqing, China, was secretly tried at the Chongqing No. 1 Intermediate People’s Court, under the charge of “subversion of state power.” Xu Wanping’s wife, Chen Xianying, tried to attend the court hearing, but was forced to stay outside the courtroom.
After the trial, Xu Wanping’s defense lawyer, Liu Yang, director of the Chongqing Fenghuang law firm, told Chen Xianying that he had argued on behalf of his client’s innocence and that he and Xu Wanping had worked together very well. The lawyer said that the judge had not yet made a ruling on the case, and refused to disclose any further details.
Mr. Zhen Ning, a famous human rights activist from Guiyang, told the reporter that many friends were concerned about Xu’s case. His friends in Guiyang had originally planned to travel to Chongqing to attend his hearing. Even if they were not permitted in the courthouse, they could have at least put pressure on the Chongqing authorities. But they were not able to make it because they only received the news late in the evening of the day before the trial.
A Possible Heavy Sentence
Zheng Ning said that the charge against Xu Wanping was “subversion of state power” and not the usual “instigation of subversion of state power.” The charge against Xu is quite serious.
Zheng said, “’subversion of state power‘ is more serious than ’instigation of subversion of state power,' among the so-called national security offenses. The latter offense is usually given a sentence of less than 5 years, but the former can result in a sentence of over 10 years, or even life, in prison.”
Therefore, he suspects that the Chongqing authorities, under the manipulation of high-level authorities in the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), may sentence Xu Wanping to over 10 years in prison. He is appealing to the international society and people from all walks of life to watch this case and to put unceasing pressure on the CCP, by urging them to rescind the charge.
“National Secrets” Are Crimes of the Authorities
Before this incident, Chen Xianying retained the renowned, Beijing human rights attorney Mr. Gao Zhisheng and his assistant as his defense lawyers; but the authorities rejected this appointment. They prevented the lawyer from visiting Xu with the excuse that the case involved “national secrets”. They also used the same excuse to prevent family members from attending the hearing.
