Chinese court jails leading light of anti-corruption movement

The US government and other critics say the case is retribution against his push to fight corruption and create equal educational opportunities.

Amid tight security, the Beijing No 1 Intermediate People’s Court handed down the verdict against Xu Zhiyong, founder of the loosely knit New Citizens movement.

Hundreds of police officers – in uniform and in plainclothes – were stationed around the courthouse. They pushed away journalists and took away Xu’s lawyer when he attempted to speak to the media, but not before he denounced the process as “very unfair”.

Xu’s prosecution is part of a broader crackdown since last spring on dissent, including the silencing and detentions of influential bloggers and advocates for minority rights in Tibetan and Muslim Uighur areas.

The ruling Communist Party is wary of any form of social force such as Xu’s New Citizens movement because of its potential to threaten the party’s rule at the grassroots level. Several other activists have stood trial or are scheduled to appear in court – all on the same charge of disrupting public order, and their prosecutions have clipped the movement, rights lawyer Zhang Xuezhong said.

“There are no longer any members with influence and ability to take action,” he said. “It is hard to say if anyone who has not been arrested can rise up to take over.”

Amnesty International yesterday called the jailing a travesty.

“This is a shameful but sadly predictable verdict,” East Asia research director Roseann Rife said. “The Chinese authorities have once again opted for the rule of fear over the rule of law.

“Xu Zhiyong’s calls for justice and accountability are entirely legitimate.”