© Particular
28 of January of 2019
In response to the four and a half year sentence imposed by a Chinese court on human rights lawyer Wang Quanzhang for “subversion of state power”, Dorian Lau, Amnesty International China researcher, has declared:
“The sentence handed down today is a flagrant injustice.”. It is outrageous that Wang Quanzhang is being punished for peacefully defending human rights in China. He must be released immediately and unconditionally.”
“In the three years preceding his mock trial, The authorities made Wang Quanzhang disappear into a black hole, where he was probably tortured. Your family, who continues to be harassed by the authorities, Until recently I didn't even know if he was alive, and keeping him in prison only prolongs the suffering of his loved ones.”
Additional information
Wang Quanzhang was the last lawyer awaiting sentencing in connection with the massive crackdown launched by the Chinese government in 2015 against almost 250 human rights activists and lawyers.
The Municipal Intermediate People's Court Number 2 of Tianjin has handed down a ruling on his case today. Wang Quanzhang was tried on 26 December 2018 after spending more than three years in detention awaiting trial. The authorities prevented his wife, That Wenzu, to leave the apartment complex where he lives so that he could not attend the trial.
Wang Quanzhang was initially detained by police on 3 August 2015, but until July 2018 his family did not know, through a lawyer, who was alive and imprisoned in Tianjin.
Before being arrested, Wang Quanzhang worked on issues considered sensitive by the Chinese government, such as the defense of religious freedom and the representation of members of the New Citizens Movement, grassroots activism network that promotes transparency in government and exposes corruption. Due to his role in defending these cases, Wang had been frequently bullied.
