The Guardian-China rights activist goes on trial for inciting subversion of state power
December 19, 2023 3 min 442 words
对于《卫报》关于中国人权活动家李翘楚因“煽动颠覆国家政权”受审一事，实属令人担忧。美国国会中国问题委员会呼吁其无条件释放，指出她急需医疗救治。李面临最长五年的刑期，若被视为首谋者，可能更长。她在法庭前被拦阻，辩护律师指称未被允许入庭。审判结束未公开判决，引发关切。作为被囚禁三年的人权活动家，她是被囚的人权律师徐志勇的伴侣。此前，该地法院以颠覆国家政权罪判处徐与另一维权律师丁家喜14年和12年刑期。李自2021年3月被捕，曾遭“指定地点居住监视”，在此期间遭受严苛对待。她的案例凸显中国对倡导人权者的严苛打压，即便其活动完全和平，受国际法保护。阿米斯特国际中国团队负责人萨拉·布鲁克斯指出：“李的审判凸显了在中国倡导人权者面临的极度压抑环境，即便他们的活动完全和平，受到国际法的保护。”这一案例再次引发对中国人权状况的深刻关切。
Li Qiaochu, a human rights activist detained for nearly three years in China, has gone on trial in Shandong province charged with “inciting subversion of state power”.
On the eve of the trial the chairs of the US congressional commission on China called for Li’s unconditional release, citing reports that the labour rights and feminist activist needed urgent medical treatment.
Li’s charges carry a sentence of up to five years, or potentially longer if she is deemed a ringleader.
Li’s lawyer Li Guobei said she had been blocked from entering the Linyi intermediate people’s court, where the trial was due to be held, by two security guards.
One of Li’s other lawyers was allowed to enter the court.
Li’s trial concluded at 3pm local time with no public judgment, according to the Facebook page FreeLiqiaochu李翘楚.
Li is the partner of the imprisoned human rights lawyer Xu Zhiyong, one of the leaders of China’s embattled civil rights movement. In November, a court in Shandong upheld the conviction of Xu and a fellow human rights lawyer, Ding Jiaxi, for subversion of state power, sentencing them to 14 and 12 years in prison respectively.
When Li was able to meet her lawyer in April, she said her feelings for Xu “had never changed”, according to an account from her supporters, who also said Li’s family had been denied repeated requests to meet her.
Li was arrested on 14 March 2021, having previously spent several months under “residential surveillance at a designated location”, a form of detention used by China’s police to hold someone outside of a normal prison without access to family or lawyers. After her release from that period of detention, Li described her experience as “black hoods and handcuffs, closed rooms, 24-hour white lights”.
Previously employed in Tsinghua University’s sociology department, Li had worked as a researcher and activist since at least 2017, when she worked with other volunteers to support migrant workers who had been evicted from their homes in Beijing in 2017. She later supported various MeToo campaigns and helped Xu maintain the website Beautiful China, where they published articles about China’s civil rights movement.
On Monday, Li’s supporters said they were very concerned about her physical health. She previously said she was denied access to anti-depressants while in detention. In 2020, she wrote that she was secretly weaning herself off the medication in anticipation of a future arrest.
Sarah Brooks, the head of Amnesty International’s China team, said: “Li’s trial highlights the deeply repressive environment for anyone who tries to advocate for human rights in China, even when their activities are entirely peaceful and protected under international law.”