New York, March 25 (IANS) Human Rights Watch (HRW), a US-based advocacy group, on Wednesday called on the Chinese authorities to immediately overturn the conviction of prominent human rights lawyer Xie Yang and release him unconditionally, citing serious procedural violations and years of persecution.

According to the leading rights body, a court in China sentenced the prominent human rights lawyer Xie Yang to five years in prison on March 23 on “politically motivated” charges of “inciting subversion of state power”.

“The Chinese authorities’ prosecution of Xie Yang and the court’s harsh sentence reflect Beijing’s utter contempt for the rule of law. This case not only aimed to persecute a brave human rights lawyer like Xie but also to intimidate all lawyers seeking to protect Chinese people’s rights,” said Maya Wang, Deputy Asia Director at HRW.

Xie’s former wife, Chen Guiqiu, said that the legal proceedings against the human rights defender were marred by serious violations of due process protections.

The HRW added that the Chinese authorities extended Xie’s pretrial detention 13 times for over four years and barred his lawyers from participating in his hearings.

The rights body noted that Xie’s trial violated the right to a fair trial by an independent and impartial court as provided under international human rights law.

Highlighting that 54-year-old Xie from China’s Hunan province began practising law in 2011, the HRW said that the human rights lawyer has defended activists and victims of rights abuses in politically sensitive cases, including those involving religious persecution and land rights disputes.

The rights body stated that Xie has faced repeated retaliation for his work.

“In July 2015, during the nationwide arrests of human rights lawyers known as the ‘709 crackdown’, Xie was tortured and subjected to enforced disappearance, convicted of ‘inciting subversion’, and imprisoned until 2017,” it added.

The Chinese authorities detained him again in January 2022 after he pressed for the “release of a young teacher who had been forcibly committed to a psychiatric facility for criticising censorship in education.”

Citing US-based Chinese human rights defenders, the HRW said that police raided Xie’s home, tortured him in custody, and held him on charges of “inciting subversion” and “picking quarrels and provoking trouble”.

“Foreign governments should continue to speak out for human rights lawyers like Xie Yang because this kind of support is most important when the circumstances are so dire. Vocal international support could improve Xie’s treatment and, crucially, help give him and others in China the strength to persevere,” Wang said.

–IANS

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