Five activists charged with ‘creating disturbance’ over anti sexual-harassment posters
Chinese activists could face up to three years in jail if convicted, says one of their lawyers
PUBLISHED : Friday, 13 March, 2015, 3:56pm
UPDATED : Friday, 13 March, 2015, 8:16pm
Associated Press in Beijing
Li Tingting, left, and Wei Tingting, right, carrying placards during a street protest in Beijing against domestic violence in 2012. Photo: SCMP Pictures
The lawyer of a women’s rights activist from China has said Beijing police have told him his client and four other activists have been criminally detained for planning to put up anti-sexual harassment posters in three cities.
Lawyer Wang Qiushi, who represents activist Wei Tingting, said police this week told lawyers representing the women that they have been accused of creating a disturbance.
Wang said it was not clear when the women were formally detained, which is a legal step before a trial in court, but police first informed him of the development on Monday.
He said if convicted of creating a disturbance, the women could serve up to three years in prison.
Lawyer Yan Xin, who met with his client Li Tingting on Thursday, said she received a written notice dated on Sunday informing of her formal detention and laying out the accusation against her.
Wang said on Friday he had not yet been allowed to meet with his client and had not seen any written notice of her detention.
Beijing police did not respond on Friday to a request seeking comment on the cases.
Police detained at least 10 women last weekend before they could put up posters in conjunction with International Women’s Day in subway stations and other public transport facilities in Beijing, Guangzhou and Hangzhou, according to activist Feng Yuan.
Police are still holding and have formally detained Wei, Li Tingting, Wang Man, Zheng Churan and Wu Rongrong, the founder of the Hangzhou-based group Women Centre.
“We think there’s no way the evidence adds up to the charge against her,” Yan said of his client.
Lawyer Wang said the protest would have helped society.
The case has fed fears that the authorities are clamping down on public speech and dissent, with groups such as people running community libraries recently singled out for official harassment.
The detentions also drew condemnation from Samantha Power, the US ambassador to the UN, who wrote on her Twitter account on Thursday that the five should be released and that such actions restrict non-governmental organisations fighting for universal rights.
The European Union also called for their release on Thursday, saying in a statement the action against the activists violates their right to demonstrate peacefully.
