BEIJING — A Chinese lawyer was sentenced to seven years in prison Thursday in the third in a series of subversion trials demonstrating the ruling Communist Party's determination to silence independent human rights activists and government critics.
The sentence given to Zhou Shifeng results from his role as director of Beijing's Fengrui Law Firm, which took on sensitive cases and represented people who dared challenge the party.
Zhou, 52, accepted the ruling and will not appeal, the official Xinhua News Agency reported.
His half-day trial in the northern city of Tianjin followed those of two related legal activists earlier this week, both on charges of subversion. As with the others, Zhou was detained in July of last year during a sweeping roundup of activists and lawyers. About 300 people were initially seized and questioned before most were released.
Zhou was accused of coming under the influence of “anti-China forces” and opposing China's government and political system. He was also accused of opposing the “one country, two systems” policy applied in former foreign colonies Hong Kong and Macau.
Zhou “played a major role in a group of activists who attempted to manipulate public opinion and damage national security by spreading subversive thoughts,” state media quoted the verdict as saying.
It said Zhou worked with activists Hu Shigen, Zhai Yanmin and Li Heping “to encourage lawyers to highlight sensitive cases and hired protesters to disturb the judicial system.” Hu was given a 7½ year sentence on Wednesday and Zhai a suspended three-year sentence on Tuesday, while Li is being tried separately.
Zhou also “asked administrative officers in the law firm to post anti-government comments online to stir up public sentiment,” the verdict said.
Zhou established Fengrui in 2007, and the following year took on one of the country's biggest dairies in a massive tainted infant formula scandal that the government had tried to squelch. The firm also represented clients targeted by the government, including members of the banned Falun Gong meditation sect and activist artist Ai Weiwei.
Zhou's final case involved Zhang Miao, a news assistant for the German weekly Die Zeit who was detained for nine months after helping with the magazine's coverage of pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong.
