Lawyer who incited ethnic hatred gets 3-year suspended sentence
Print Edition
Lawyer Pu Zhiqiang has been given a suspended three-year prison sentence for “inciting ethnic hatred and disturbing public order,” Beijing No. 2 Intermediate People’s Court said yesterday.
The court said Pu posted content that provoked ethnic discord and incited ethnic hatred on several microblog accounts on Sina Weibo between January 2012 and May 2014.
His posts were shared more than 2,500 times and attracted more than 1,300 comments, triggering an “antagonistic mentality” in many citizens, the court said.
Pu had continued to post provocative content despite repeated warnings from web administrators, something that demonstrated his clear intent to stir ethnic hatred, the court said.
It also determined that Pu had posted derogatory content on his microblog account four times since 2011, smearing several people involved in widely followed events.
Pu, who the court said had apologized to the public and the people directly concerned, will not appeal.
It quoted him as saying: “I feel the progress in law enforcement and social development. I hope my case can specify the border of the freedom of cyber space remarks.”
All his online posts have been removed.
The court said he had accused the Communist Party of cowardice in dealing with tensions in northwest China’s Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region after 31 civilians were killed in a terrorist attack at Kunming railway station on March 1, 2014.
A month later, after another act of terror in Xinjiang’s capital Urumqi, in which one civilian was killed and 79 others were injured, Pu is said to have blamed the Party’s ethnic policies in a post which triggered many supportive comments.
The court said yesterday: “Our law allows and guarantees free speech, but it also rules that people can’t destroy the national, social and other people’s rights.
“As an influential lawyer and public figure, Pu several times provoked ethnic hatred. Despite repeated warnings from web administrators, he continued to post such content which showed his clear intent to incite ethnic hatred,” the court said.
“He also used bad and vulgar words to defame and abuse others, which not only created psychological distress for the victims and harmed their social reputation, but also disturbed order in cyber space and had a negative social impact.”
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