From Human Rights Watch

(New York) – Chinese authorities should immediately quash the conviction and unconditionally release the founder of a human rights news website, Human Rights Watch said today. On January 29, 2019, a court in Hubei province sentenced Liu Feiyue to five years in prison after convicting him on charges of “inciting subversion of state power.”

Liu, 48, is a veteran activist and founder of Minsheng Guancha (Civil Rights and Livelihood Watch, 民生观察). The website, created in 2006, has reported on a wide range of human rights issues in China, including prosecutions of activists and lawyers, protests, police abuses, and government corruption, subjects that China’s state-controlled media are prohibited from covering.

Prosecuting the editor of a human rights website shows just how frightened the Chinese government is about independent reporting on abuses from inside China,” said Yaqiu Wang, China researcher. “Sending Liu Feiyue to prison for five years is a travesty of justice meant to scare off others who might follow in his footsteps.”

On November 17, 2016, police in Suizhou, Hubei province took Liu into custody. On December 23, the Suizhou procuratorate, or prosecutor’s office, formally arrested him for “inciting subversion.” In August 2017, the procuratorate added a charge of “providing state secrets to a foreign entity,” but withdrew the charge months later.

The prosecution against Liu has been marred by denial of his right to legal counsel and other due process violations. Authorities repeatedly rejected Liu’s lawyers’ requests to meet with him, until May 2017. In June 2018, the Hunan Bureau of Justice revoked the license of one of Liu’s lawyers, Wen Donghai, for “disorderly court conduct” in previous cases. Prior to Wen’s disbarment, judicial authorities had repeatedly criticized him for “hyping up” Liu’s case on the internet and for talking to foreign media. Since 2017, authorities have intensified disbarment of lawyers to deter them from taking on human rights cases.

During Liu’s trial at the Suizhou Intermediate People’s Court on August 7, 2018, police took away activists who had come to show support for Liu and blocked people from approaching the court building. Authorities pressured Wu Kuiming, the lawyer replacing Wen, not to discuss the proceedings publicly.

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