Asset Transparency

Verdict in the Case of Three Asset Transparency Advocates

The Yushui District People’s Court in Xinyu, Jiangxi Province convicted three asset transparency advocates and New Citizens Movement participants on June 19, 2014. Liu Ping ( 刘萍 ) and Wei Zhongping ( 魏忠平 ) were sentenced to six and a half years in prison for “picking quarrels and provoking troubles...

June 19, 2014

Citizens' Square

Asset Transparency

Li Sihua

Defense Opinion from Liu Ping’s Lawyer

In this defense opinion submitted to the Yushui district court, in Xinyu city, lawyer Si Weijiang raises both procedural and substantive problems in the trial of and charges against his client, transparency advocate Liu Ping. Si argues that Liu's actions online and offline calling for asset...

June 16, 2014

Citizens' Square

Asset Transparency

Liu Ping

A Citizen Who Attacks the Order of a System of Slavery is Innocent—Ding Jiaxi’s First Instance Trial Defense Statement

In this statement , also written for public dissemination, Ding Jiaxi's lawyer Sui Muqing (隋牧青) likens China to a system of slavery: “When people's words and deeds are constantly shackled and constrained by all kinds of unspoken rules and fears, when their words and deeds are faulted at every turn...

April 16, 2014

Citizens' Square

Asset Transparency

Ding Jiaxi

Four More New Citizens Movement Advocates Convicted, Sentenced to Between Two and Three-and-a-Half Years

Four citizen activists involved in public calls for high-ranking officials to reveal their assets in 2013 have each been found guilty of “gathering a crowd to disrupt order in a public place.” Two of them— Ding Jiaxi ( 丁家喜 ) and Zhao Changqing ( 赵常青 ) — were accused of planning street actions in...

April 18, 2014

Case Update

Asset Transparency

Ding Jiaxi

Draft Defense Statement for the Trial of Zhang Baocheng

This is the draft defense statement by one of Zhang Baocheng’s former lawyers, prepared for the original trial on January 27, 2014. In that trial, in protest of procedural problems, Zhang dismissed his lawyers and forced an adjournment of the trial. (The new trial took place on April 8, and Zhang...

April 16, 2014

Citizens' Square

Asset Transparency

Zhang Baocheng

The Light of Justice Shines Forever--A Smiling Zhang Baocheng: Defense Statement for the Trial of Zhang Baocheng

In his defense statement for Zhang Baocheng, lawyer Ge Yongxi argues that the procedural irregularities prove that the trial is nothing but reprisal against a human rights defender. He argues that the evidence, especially video of the peaceful assemblies for which Zhang was indicted, proves that...

April 12, 2014

Citizens' Square

Asset Transparency

Zhang Baocheng

Lawyer’s Request to Present 75 Witnesses to Testify at Open Hearing

On appeal of his first-instance verdict and four-year prison sentence, Xu Zhiyong requested that the second instance trial conducted in an open court, and that all witnesses who originally submitted written testimonies be allowed to testify in-person in court. This is a request, submitted by one of...

April 3, 2014

Citizens' Square

Asset Transparency

Xu Zhiyong

Freedom of Speech Is the Starting Point for Civil Society and Good Governance--Defense Argument for Dr. Xu Zhiyong’s second instance trial

In this argument submitted to the Beijing Municipal People’s High Court, Xu Zhiyong’s second instance trial defense lawyer, Liu Shuqing (刘书庆), raised three issues: the facts of the first instance trial were unclear; the first and second instance trials had major procedural flaws; and the importance...

April 7, 2014

Citizens' Square

New Citizens Movement

Xu Zhiyong

Excerpt from Ding Jiaxi’s Final Statement

Ding Jiaxi was tried on April 8-9, 2014, for “gathering a crowd to disrupt order in a public place,” in connection with his participation in citizen actions calling for disclosure of officials’ assets as a way to fight corruption since 2012. The trial concluded on April 9 without a verdict. Ding’s...

April 9, 2014

Citizens' Square

Asset Transparency

Ding Jiaxi

"In Love There is No Fear"

Activist Zhao Changqing's lawyer, Zhang Peihong, said in his defense arguments delivered at the Haidian District Court in Beijing that the very fact he must defend Zhao Changqing in court is a double insult to people's intelligence and the law. Zhang argued that the acts for which Zhao has been...

April 10, 2014

Citizens' Square