China Finds Lawyer Who Exposed Torture Allegations Guilty of Inciting Subversion
21, 2017
BEIJING — A Chinese human rights lawyer who has supported the families of other lawyers
and activists detained in a sweeping crackdown since 2015 was declared guilty on Tuesday of inciting subversion by a court in southern China and sentenced to two years in prison.
pic.twitter.com/Hc0vpqWSHb The Hunan Intermediate People’s Court announced the sentencing of Mr. Jiang over Sina.com Weibo, a popular Chinese social media service, and the judge made clear
that Mr. Jiang was being held up as a warning to other activist lawyers who challenge the strict control of President Xi Jinping, the Communist Party leader.
But his family, human rights groups and other supporters have condemned his trial in August as a carefully staged sham,
and rights advocates called the verdict a vendetta after Mr. Jiang helped bring to light another lawyer’s allegations that he had been brutalized in custody.
The most specific charge against Mr. Jiang was that he had engaged in subversion by helping publicize the claims of another detained
lawyer, Xie Yang, who said he had been tortured in custody, according to documents his lawyers shared early this year.
China said that Jiang Tianyong had for a long time come under the influence of anti-Chinese infiltration,
and gradually formed the idea of overturning the country’s existing political system,
Standing behind friend and brave Chinese human rights lawyer #JiangTianyong today
as he prepares for prison, the latest victim of China’s ongoing crackdown.
