Xu Zhiyong
Xu Zhiyong (Chinese许志永, Pinyin Xǔ Zhìyǒng; * 1973 in the district Minquan, Henan Province, People's Republic of China) is a Chinese lawyer and lecturer at the University of Posts and Telecommunications Beijing in Beijing. Abroad, he is best known for his political activities and the ensuing arrests.
Life
Xu received his law degree in 1994 from the Lanzhou University in Lanzhou, Gansu province, with the degree of Bachelor of Laws ( LL.B. ). He received his doctorate in law at Peking University in 2002.
2003 Xu was elected as an independent candidate in the district of the city People's Congress in Beijing's Haidian District Northwest. He is an active lawyer, wanted to help the underprivileged people of his country to their right.
Persecution by the authorities of his country
Xu was a co-founder of the NGO Open Constitution Initiative Gongmeng, who was sentenced in July 2009 to a heavy fine for tax evasion. At the same time, the constitutional initiative was banned as illegal and a few days later, Xu and Zhuang Lu were arrested at their homes for the same offense. In August 2009, he was released on bail, according to press reports due to the intervention of U.S. President Barack Obama.
In October 2010, the Chinese lawyer Teng Biao said that Xu and thirteen other people were arrested in a Beijing restaurant on October 8, and at the very moment when the award of the Nobel Peace Prize to Liu Xiaobo was known.
On July 16, 2013 Xu, who was under house arrest for several months, was arrested again. He had founded a new movement, the new Civil Society Movement, which refers to the requirements of the KP chief Xi Jinping, who has repeatedly called for the " enforcement of the Constitution " and the fight against corruption. A formal complaint was made in December, 2013, he was accused of the " organization of a crowd with the aim of disrupting public order ". Other supporters Xu, including the billionaire Wang Gongquan were also fixed and brought to justice.
The case against Xu began on 22 January 2014 the Intermediate People's Court of Beijing No. 1 to the exclusion of the public. According to his lawyer Xu could not name their own witnesses, the defense was not allowed to question the witnesses of the charges. On January 26, 2014 Xu was sentenced to four years in prison. Procedures and verdict were criticized internationally. The U.S. Ambassador to China Gary Locke criticized the method as retaliation and called for the release of Xu and other civil rights activists. The European Union also campaigned for the release of civil rights.