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Case History: Xu Zhiyong

Status: 
Released
About the situation

On 15 July, 2017 human rights defender Xu Zhiyong (许志永) was released from prison , after serving his four-year sentence at the Tianjin Kenhua Prison. The defender had been arrested on 16 July 2013 under suspicion of the crime of “gathering crowds to disrupt public order.” He was prosecuted and found guilty by the Beijing No. 1 Intermediate People’s Court on 26 January 2014 and sentenced to four years’ incarceration, dated from the time of his arrest.

About Xu Zhiyong

Xu Zhiyong is one of the founders and leaders of the New Citizens' Movement, which campaigned for greater transparency among Chinese Communist Party officials, greater equality within the education system as well as for Constitutional government.

18 July 2017
Xu Zhiyong released after completing four-year sentence

On 15 July, 2017 human rights defender Xu Zhiyong (许志永) was released from prison , after serving his four-year sentence at the Tianjin Kenhua Prison. The defender had been arrested on 16 July 2013 under suspicion of the crime of “gathering crowds to disrupt public order.” He was prosecuted and found guilty by the Beijing No. 1 Intermediate People’s Court on 26 January 2014 and sentenced to four years’ incarceration, dated from the time of his arrest.

Xu Zhiyong is a former lecturer and member of China’s National People’s Congress (NPC). During his first congressional term, he advocated to abolish “custody and repatriation” programs responsible for arbitrarily detentions of migrant and homeless individuals. Xu Zhiyong is also a passionate civil organizer and a founding member of the Open Constitution Initiative (a.k.a. “Gongmeng”) and the New Citizens’ Movement, both of which have suffered intense vilification and persecution by government authorities. On 17 July 2009, Beijing officials shut down the Open Constitution Initiative for alleged “tax evasion” and raided its offices. Xu Zhiyong was arrested in his home 12 days later on related charges and kept in detention for three weeks.

In July 2013, Xu Zhiyong was taken into custody for his involvement in the New Citizen’s Movement, accused of “gathering crowds to disrupt public order.” The human rights defender was tried and sentenced in January of the following year.

Front Line Defenders celebrates Xu Zhiyong’s safe and healthy return to his family, and urges the Chinese government to desist from its retaliatory actions against the Chinese citizens’ peaceful work upholding human rights.

26 January 2014
Human rights defender Mr Xu Zhiyong sentenced to four years in prison

On 26 January 2014, human rights defender and legal scholar Mr Xu Zhiyong was sentenced to four years in prison by the Beijing No.1 Intermediate People's Court. In a closed-door trial, the human rights defender was convicted of “gathering crowds to disrupt public order.” Xu Zhiyong is one of many human rights defenders affiliated with what has become known as the New Citizen's Movement who have been arrested and are facing trial or have already been tried.

At a trial held on 22 January 2014 Xu Zhiyong declined to offer a defence in protest at the court's refusal to allow the majority of his witnesses to testify on his behalf. In a prepared closing statement, of which he was only permitted to read ten minutes, Xu Zhiyong wrote, “Public order was not disrupted as a result of our actions, which infringed on the legitimate rights of no one. I understand clearly that some people have to make sacrifices, and I for one am willing to pay any and all price for my belief in freedom, justice, love, and for a better future of China. If you insist on persecuting the conscience of a people, I openly accept that destiny and the glory that accompanies it. But do not for a second think you can terminate the New Citizens’ Movement by throwing me in jail.”

Xu Zhiyong was originally detained on 16 July 2013 and his lawyer, Mr Zhang Qingfang, was informed that he had been formally arrested on 22 August 2013. On 1 August 2013, Xu Zhiyong's legal team recorded a video of him in detention, which was later posted online. In the video, the human rights defender rallies Chinese society to push for greater political freedoms, stating that “this country needs brave citizens who can stand up and hold fast to their convictions; who can take their rights, responsibilities and their dreams seriously”.

In the lead-up to the trial of 22 January 2014, police reportedly blocked road access to the courthouse and placed known supporters of Xu Zhiyong under house arrest. Dozens more of his supporters, including human rights defenders Messrs Liang Xiaojun and Chen Yunfei, were dragged away and detained by police outside the courthouse but later released. It is further reported that whilst 17 foreign diplomats were permitted access to the building, they were forbidden from entering the courtroom where the trial was taking place. Front Line Defenders previously issued an appeal on Xu Zhiyong on 27 August 2013.

Front Line Defenders condemns the sentencing of Xu Zhiyong, as it represents a clear violation of his right to a fair trial as well as to his rights to freedom of opinion and expression. Front Line Defenders is concerned that his sentencing is intended to convey an intimidating message with a view to silencing other human rights defenders affiliated with the New Citizen's Movement in China.

 

27 August 2013
Arrest of human rights defender Mr Xu Zhiyong

On 22 August 2013, Beijing-based human rights defender Mr Xu Zhiyong was formally arrested by police in Beijing. He was initially detained on 16 July 2013.

Xu Zhiyong was first detained on 16 July 2013 by Beijing police, but it was on 22 August 2013 that the Beijing prosecutor's office informed the business partner of Mr Zhang Qingfang, Xu Zhiyong's lawyer, that the human rights defender had been formally arrested. He has reportedly been accused of “gathering a crowd to disrupt order in a public place”. A formal arrest document is reportedly being sent to the human rights defender's family.

On 1 August 2013, Xu Zhiyong's lawyers recorded a video of him in detention, which was later posted online. In the video, the human rights defender rallies Chinese society to push for greater political freedoms, stating that “this country needs brave citizens who can stand up and hold fast to their convictions; who can take their rights, responsibilities and their dreams seriously”.

The New Citizens Movement network is a loose network of campaigners who meet at monthly dinners on a set day which vary in size from around 20 participants to 100 people. To date, they have reportedly been organised by individuals in 31 different cities across China. At the dinners, political, legal and social issues are discussed by the participants in the movement, which has on numerous times led to lobby campaigns, petitions and small-scale demonstrations on specific topics, notably a push to establish rules for public officials to declare their assets in an attempt to combat corruption. Participants have also launched campaigns defending the rights of migrant workers and have called for greater respect for the Chinese Constitution. Participants at gatherings have also draft recommendations to lawmakers.

This is not the first time Xu Zhiyong has been detained on account of his activities as a human rights defender. He was arbitrarily detained on 29 July 2009, following which he was formally arrested on 12 August 2009. Front Line Defenders issued an urgent appeal on the incident on 5 August 2009, and a subsequent update on 24 August 2009.

Front Line Defenders believes that the arrest of Xu Zhiyong is motivated solely by his legitimate and peaceful activities defending human rights, and fears for his personal and psychological integrity. Front Line Defenders is concerned that his detention is part of a recent pattern of arrests and criminal charges targeting peaceful human rights activists and social organisers in China, such as prominent human rights defenders Yang Maodong, Yang Lin, Liu Ping, Li Sihua and Wei Zhongping, about whom Front Line Defenders has issued urgent appeals in the last two months.

 

5 August 2009
Arbitrary detention of human rights defenders, Mr Xu Zhiyong and Mr Zhuang Lu

Human rights defenders, Mr Xu Zhiyong and Mr Zhuang Lu, were detained by police officers in separate incidents at their homes in Beijing on 29 July 2009. Their whereabouts remain unknown and their relatives and colleagues have not received any communication from them since their detention.

Xu Zhiyong is the director of the recently-banned legal aid center, Gongmeng (also known as the Open Constitution Initiative), a professor at Beijing Post and Telecommunications University and an elected representative to the National People’s Congress for Haidian District, Beijing. Zhuang Lu is a staff member of Gongmeng. Gongmeng had been actively involved in investigating cases such as the 2008 Sanlu milk scandal. Gongmeng's affiliates, mostly Beijing lawyers, have played important roles in the campaign to urge open and direct elections for the leadership of the Beijing Lawyers Association, an effort that has cost many of them their lawyers’ licenses.

On 29 July 2009, at approximately 5:00 am, Xu Zhiyong was taken from his home in a suburb of Beijing by seven policemen. Around the same time, Zhuang Lu, was also taken from his home by the police. It is believed that both Xu Zhiyong and Zhuang Lu remain in police detention. It is unclear which police division carried out the early morning detentions. The following morning the State Administration of Taxation held a hearing about its decision to fine Gongmeng 1.42 million RMB for “tax evasion”. Xu Zhiyong did not appear at the hearing. Although the proceedings were supposed to be open to the public, approximately thirty activists and supporters were barred from attending. Only Peng Jian and Li Xiongbing, two lawyers advising Xu Zhiyong and Gongmeng, were allowed to be present.

On July 14 2009, Gongmeng received notifications from both the State Administration of Taxation and the local Bureau of Taxation in Beijing that they were being fined for “tax evasion”. Three days later, the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Civil Affairs declared the organisation “illegal”, raided its office and formally banned it. On July 21, the landlords of the office space formerly rented by Gongmeng and Xu Zhiyong’s private home separately called the human rights lawyer and urged him to move as soon as possible. It is alleged that government officials are behind this further pressure on Xu Zhiyong. In a separate incident, on 29 July 2009, at approximately 10:00 a.m., authorities arrived unannounced to collect evidence and investigate supposed illegal activities at the office of Beijing’s Yirenping Center, an organisation which focuses on the rights of hepatitis patients and other health-related discrimination issues. The officials claimed that Yirenping was involved in unauthorized “publishing activities” and then proceeded to inspect the office, photograph its publications and confiscate a hundred copies of its publications, Anti-Discrimination Communications. Yirenping’s lawyers later discovered that one of the “inspectors” did not have a valid official ID authorizing such an inspection.

Both Gongmeng and Yirenping are organisations registered with the State Administration of Industry and Commerce (SAIC). Many civil society organisations have chosen to register with the SAIC due to the difficulties for those without official connections to register as non-profit organisations with the Ministry of Civil Affairs (MCA). However, if they have not registered with the MCA, they are officially “illegal” organisations, and face varying degrees of harassment from the authorities. In addition to the ‘inspection’ of Yirenping’s office and the raid and closure of Gongmeng, fifty lawyers have had their licences revoked in the week 23-30 July 2009.

Front Line is deeply concerned that these acts, in addition to the arbitrary detention of Xu Zhiyong and Zhuang Lu, form part of a crack-down on human rights defenders in China. Front Line is seriously concerned for the physical and psychological integrity of Xu Zhiyong and Zhuang Lu.