Shenzhen Rights Defense Lawyer Receives 1 ½ Year Suspended Sentence

维权律师刘尧终审被判有罪

Caijing Online, 2009-04-17

The Heyuan (Guangdong Province) Intermediate Court convicted found Shenzhen lawyer Liu Yao guilty of “intentionally destroying property”and sentenced him to 1 ½ years imprisonment but suspended the sentence with a two year probation. The court's ruling was the trial of last instance in a case that had already been retried and appealed twice. Liu was originally sentenced to four years in prison for his role in defending farmers from his village against an illegal land appropriation by a hydroelectric company—he had helped lead protests that resulted in damaged equipment at the construction site. After the verdict was announced, Liu's defense lawyers, who noted that the conviction effectively disbars Liu from practicing law again, questioned the court's failure to allow cross-examination of key government witnesses and evidence.