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A Beijing court has ruled that a prominent Chinese human rights lawyer, Pu Zhiqiang, was guilty of “inciting ethnic hatred” and “picking quarrels” on his social media posts.
The court sentenced him to three years in prison but also said that the sentence would be suspended.
Pu is the latest to be tried in a crackdown on dissidents in China and it remains unclear if he would be freed from detention immediately.
According to BBC, the human rights activist had been in detention since 2014, after he posted several messages that were critical of the government.
He had questioned the “excessively violent” crackdown on Uighurs in the restive Xinjiang region. He also alleged that the Chinese Communist Party was an untruthful party and mocked government rhetoric over disputed islands in the East China Sea which are also claimed by Japan.
Supporters said that his arrest was politically motivated, as he is known for representing dissidents in sensitive human rights cases and for his vocal criticism.
Pu represented artist, Ai Weiwei in a tax evasion case that critics complained was politically motivated. He also campaigned for the eventual abolition of the labour camp system, under which suspects could be detained for years without trial.
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