Hu Jia stood trial Tuesday on charges of subversion.
His lawyers revealed that prosecutors focused on Hu Jia publishing six articles on boxun.com and talking to two overseas media outlets.
Hu Jia didn’t deny these charges during the trial, and his lawyers tried to defend him from the perspective of freedom of speech.
Lawyer Li Fangping said: “We don’t deny the facts listed in the charges, they are in fact what Hu Jia has written and said.”
“But first of all we think freedom of speech must be respected. Second, we think there is conflict between freedom of speech listed in the Chinese Constitution and the charges of incitement to subversion listed in the Chinese Criminal Code. There is a huge gap between us and the prosecutors on how we understand those two things.”
Hu Jia’s mother went into the court to audit, telling RFA that “Prosecution and defense didn’t get equal rights to speak, with Hu’s lawyer’s speech frequently interrupted.”
Hu’s wife Zeng Jinyan was barred from auditting the trial on the grounds that she is a witness in the case. After the trial, Zeng and Hu’s mother met Hu Jia in the Court waiting room. Then police requested they leave for home from an underground garage, preventing them from talking to foreign reporters waiting outside the court.
Court officials had said it was an open trial, but only Hu’s mother allowed in. Police barred several dozen rights activists, law specialists, foreign human rights experts and journalists from getting in to the court, saying that all auditing permission passes had already been distributed.
According to RFA, five lawyers who went to audit were detained illegally and abused by police. Lawyer Li Xiongbing and other four were taken away to Babaoshan police station without any reason. They were kept there for four hours.
Two lawers were beaten up by a policeman by the name Xu Feng. Jiang Tianyong, one of the beaten lawyers, said: “Xu suddenly used his ID to cover my eyes (to show his ID). I said I have already seen your ID. …He pulled my shoulders against the wall then used his knee to strike my lower body. I yelled ‘he beat me’ in extreme pain. A group people rushed in then they continue to question me.”
Phone called to the police station went unanswered.
Lawyer Li Fangping think Hu Jia’s trial could end this week with a verdict. “The judge requested that we hand in the defense statement immediately after the trial. This is a sign that the verdict will be handed down in the next few days.”
An anonymous source told RFA that Hu Jia was questioned for 14 hours every night during the first month of his detention. Police even threatened more torture if Hu Jia didn’t cooperate.
Report from Ding Xiao in Hong Kong. Translated by Chen Ping.
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