The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk said he was
“very worried”
on Monday April 10 after a Chinese court sentenced two human rights lawyers to more than ten years in prison.
Xu Zhiyong and Ding Jiaxi were found guilty on Sunday of
"subversion of state power"
after a closed trial.
The two colleagues are leading figures in the New Citizens Movement, a civil rights group that calls for constitutional reform and accuses the government of corruption.
“I am very concerned that two prominent human rights defenders in China (…) have been sentenced to long prison terms, in violation of international human rights standards,” Volker Türk said in a statement
. communicated.
“Human rights law requires that people not be persecuted or punished for expressing criticism of government policies
,” he added, stressing the need for a fair trial, due process and investigations into possible ill-treatment.
14 and 12 years in prison
Xu Zhiyong, who had called on Chinese President Xi Jinping to resign, in particular for his handling of the Covid-19 pandemic, was sentenced to 14 years in prison, a sentence handed down by a Shandong court, according to Human Rights Watch. (East).
As for Ding Jiaxi, he "
was sentenced to 12 years in prison and banned from holding official office for three years
," his wife Luo Shengchun told AFP.
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