Pu Zhiqiang

File:蒲志強19890510 (cropped).jpg]]

From Luanzhou, Tangshan, Hebei Province, Pu Zhiqiang received an undergraduate degree in history from Nankai University in 1986, and a Master of Laws degree from China University of Political Science and Law in 1991. When he was a postgraduate student, he joined the pro-democracy movement in 1989.Philip P. Pan, [https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A30146-2004Dec27.html In China, Turning the Law Into the People's Protector], Washington Post A01, 28 December 2004. Writing for the New York Review of Books, Pu described how he returns to the Square annually with friends and family to mark the anniversary of the crackdown in fulfillment of a promise he made in 1989.Pu Zhiqiang, [http://www.nybooks.com/articles/archives/2006/aug/10/june-fourth-seventeen-years-later-how-i-kept-a-pro/ ‘June Fourth’ Seventeen Years Later: How I Kept a Promise], New York Review of Books, 3 June 2006.

Pu is known for being a prolific blogger on the Weibo platform, and for his "casual sarcasm." His posts are characterised by NYRB as "short, Twitter-like" and are "unusual for their cleverness." He is well known as a human rights activist, and his blogging has tested the boundaries of Chinese government censorship. He has tens of thousands of followers. However, once his Weibo accounts reach a certain level of popularity, censors delete his account, and he has to start again.{{cite web|url=https://www.nybooks.com/daily/2015/02/09/china-pu-zhiqiang-inventing-crime/|title=China: Inventing a Crime|first=Perry|last=Link|date=9 February 2015}}

{{Weiquan_Lawyers}}

Pu has been involved in a number of high-profile freedom of speech cases in China, defending dissident writers and journalists. In 2004, he defended writers Chen Guidi and Wu Chuntao. The couple was facing libel charges for their portrayals of local Communist Party official Zhang Xide in their best-selling book A Survey of the Chinese Peasants. The case—and Pu's litigation in court—garnered international attention. Philip Pan of the Washington Post wrote that "by the time [Pu] finished his cross-examination, the mood in the courtroom had begun to change. When the trial ended three days later, ... it seemed as if Zhang – and the Communist Party itself – were the ones on trial." The same year, Pu won a landmark victory on behalf of the China Reform magazine, which was similarly facing libel charges for its critical reporting on a real estate developer. The court decided in the magazine's favor, ruling that journalists are entitled to legal immunity on the condition that their stories are based on a reasonably believable source, rather than hearsay or fabrication.

In 2006, Pu represented dissident writer Wang Tiancheng, who charged that legal professor Zhou Yezhong had plagiarised over 5,000 words of his writings without attribution. Although the court recognized that plagiarism had occurred, it ultimately ruled that the copied material represented too small a portion of the Zhou's book to constitute a crime. Pu told the South China Morning Post that he believed the court's decision may have been politically motivated.Vivian Wu, "Dissident writer loses 'political' copyright case," South China Morning Post, 22 December 2006. In 2009, Pu represented Tan Zuoren, who documented deaths that occurred as a result of the 2008 Sichuan earthquake.

In 2012, Pu represented artist Ai Weiwei when his company sued the Beijing tax authority.{{cite web|url=http://bigstory.ap.org/content/ai-weiwei-pu-zhiqiang|title=Ai Weiwei, Pu Zhiqiang|work=The Big Story|agency=AP}} That same year, he also represented Tang Hui, who had been sent to a labor camp for peacefully petitioning against the sentences given to the people who raped her 11-year-old daughter, and then forced her into prostitution.{{cite web|url=http://globalvoicesonline.org/2015/02/27/renowned-chinese-human-rights-lawyer-still-detained-after-10-months/|title=Renowned Chinese Human Rights Lawyer Still Detained After 10 Months|work=Global Voices|date=27 February 2015 }} Tang, who repeatedly petitioned officials in Yongzhou in her daughter's case, was eventually sentenced to 18 months in "re-education through labor" for "seriously disturbing the social order and exerting a negative impact on society." Tang's sentence sparked calls for the abolition of the supposed system of re-education through labor.{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2012/aug/16/china-tang-hui-labour-camp|title=Outcry in China over mother sent to labour camp after daughter's rape|author=Tania Branigan|work=the Guardian|date=16 August 2012}} Pu was one of three lawyers who defended Fang Hong, a dissident blogger who had been sentenced to one year in a labor camp for writing a poem mocking former Chongqing Communist Party chief Bo Xilai. After Bo's fall from power over a corruption scandal, Fang filed to have his guilty verdict overturned. He also sought compensation from the court.Isolda Morillo and Christopher Bodeen, [https://news.yahoo.com/china-blogger-seeking-redress-over-labor-camp-term-144423556--finance.html China blogger seeking redress over labor camp term], Associated Press, 8 May 2012.

Pu contends that the display of Mao Zedong's preserved remains at Chairman Mao Memorial Hall is a moral and legal violation of Mao's expressed wish for frugal socialist funeral.{{Cite journal |last=Tu |first=Hang |date=2022-02-24 |title=Long Live Chairman Mao! Death, Resurrection, and the (Un)Making of a Revolutionary Relic |url= |journal=The Journal of Asian Studies |volume=81 |issue=3 |pages=507–522 |doi=10.1017/s0021911821002321 |issn=0021-9118}}{{Rp|page=508}}

Pu was arrested by the Chinese police in May 2014, ostensibly for having "caused a disturbance." The arrest followed Pu's attendance at a meeting of dissidents who were campaigning for official recognition of the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989. Four other lawyers who attended the event were also jailed.{{cite news|last=Murdoch|first=Scott|title=Chinese dissident detained by police|url=http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/world/chinese-dissident-detained-by-police/story-e6frg6so-1226908107075#|accessdate=6 May 2014|newspaper=The Australian|date=7 May 2014}} The prosecution examined his personal history, notes and computers, and interrogated his associates, but failed to find any evidence of treason, sexual misconduct, or corruption. The only evidence provided by the prosecution consisted of provocative blog posts. He remained in custody despite the courts having rejected the case for lack of evidence.{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/blogs-china-blog-31018617|title=The case against Pu Zhiqiang|first=Celia|last=Hatton|work=BBC News|date=28 January 2015}}

A statement released by the American foreign ministry on 6 May 2015 asked that Pu be released, saying that this was in accordance "with China's international human rights commitments." Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying responded the next day, saying that "I think lots of people have the same feeling with me, that some people in the United States have hearts that are too big and hands that are too long. Washington should address human rights problems at home and stop trying to be the world's policeman or judge."{{cite news|title=China Rebukes U.S. Over Criticism of Civil Rights Lawyer's Detention|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/08/world/asia/pu-zhiqiang-china-detention.html?_r=0|accessdate=7 May 2015|work=The New York Times|date=7 May 2015}}

In December 2015, Pu was put on trial in Beijing for online social commentary critical of the ruling Communist Party.{{Cite web |url=http://bigstory.ap.org/article/1806e5bf2da94ca0a2efc90ec79cc0f8/chinese-rights-lawyer-stand-trial-social-media-posts |title=Lawyer on trial in Beijing as police scuffle with protesters |access-date=15 December 2015 |archive-date=17 December 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151217002034/http://bigstory.ap.org/article/1806e5bf2da94ca0a2efc90ec79cc0f8/chinese-rights-lawyer-stand-trial-social-media-posts |url-status=dead }} On 22 December 2015, Pu was found guilty of picking quarrels and inciting ethnic hatred and given a suspended three-year prison sentence.{{cite news|title=Chinese human rights lawyer Pu Zhiqiang gets suspended sentence|url=https://edition.cnn.com/2015/12/21/asia/china-lawyer-pu-zhiqiang-verdict/index.html|access-date=22 December 2015|work=CNN|date=22 December 2015}} Pu reported that he had been disbarred in April 2016, due to his postings on social media.{{cite news|title=Prominent Chinese lawyer says he is formally disbarred|url=http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/world/archives/2016/04/15/2003644027|accessdate=15 April 2016|work=Taipei Times|agency=Reuters and Associated Press|date=15 April 2016}}

Pu was nominated by an international group of writers, scholars, activists and legal observers for the 2016 Global Freedom of Expression Prize sponsored by the Columbia University Global Freedom of Expression Center.{{cite news|title=China Convicts Prominent Lawyer Pu Zhiqiang of Speech Violations While Nominated for Columbia 2016 Global Freedom of Expression Award|url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/cynthia-l-cooper/chinese-convicts-while-la_b_8858914.html|accessdate=23 December 2015|work=HuffPost|date=22 December 2015}}

{{reflist}}

{{Wikiquote}}

{{commons category-inline}}

• [http://chinadigitaltimes.net/china/pu-zhiqiang/ News about Pu Zhiqiang] from China Digital Times

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pu, Zhiqiang}}

Category:1965 births

Category:20th-century Chinese lawyers

Category:21st-century Chinese lawyers

Category:Chinese free speech activists

Category:Chinese human rights activists

Category:Living people

Category:Weiquan movement

Category:Disbarred lawyers

Category:People from Luanzhou

Category:Charter 08 signatories