Chinese Rights Lawyer, Li Heping, Gets Suspended Prison Sentence
2 Intermediate People’s Court in Tianjin said Mr. Li had endangered national security
and social stability by "attacking" the government and had "colluded" with religious activists and lawyers with "subversive ideologies." The trial was held behind closed doors because it involved state secrets, according to the statement posted online by the court.
Last year, the United Nations’ top human rights official called on China to release a group of detained lawyers,
including Mr. Li, expressing alarm over what he called a "very worrying pattern" of prosecution.
Frances Eve, a researcher at the Chinese Human Rights Defenders, said the threat of a return to detention meant
that Mr. Li and his family would continue to endure uncertainty.
During Mr. Li’s detention, the authorities harassed his family
and prevented his wife, Wang Qiaoling, from seeking legal representation, Ms. Wang said in an interview last year.
By ALAN WONGAPRIL 28, 2017
HONG KONG — One of China’s most prominent human rights lawyers was given a suspended
three-year prison sentence on Friday after being convicted of subversion charges.
He was detained in 2015 by the police during an expansive crackdown on dissent
that targeted more than 250 lawyers, legal assistants and activists, in what the lawyers said was a political assault on their profession.
