Li Qiaochu, a human rights activist detained for nearly three years in China, has gone on trial in Shandong province charged with “inciting subversion of state power”.
On the eve of the trial, the chairs of the US congressional commission on China called for Li’s unconditional release, citing reports that the labour rights and feminist activist needed urgent medical treatment.
Li’s charges carry a sentence of up to five years, or potentially longer if she is deemed a ringleader.
Li’s lawyer Li Guobei said she had been blocked from entering the Linyi intermediate people’s court, where the trial was due to be held, by two security guards.
One of Li’s other lawyers was allowed to enter the court.
Li’s trial concluded at 3pm local time with no public judgment, according to the Facebook page FreeLiqiaochu李翘楚.
Li is the partner of the imprisoned human rights lawyer Xu Zhiyong, one of the leaders of China’s embattled civil rights movement. In November, a court in Shandong upheld the conviction of Xu and a fellow human rights lawyer, Ding Jiaxi, for subversion of state power, sentencing them to 14 and 12 years in prison respectively.
When Li was able to meet her lawyer in April, she said her feelings for Xu “had never changed”, according to an account from her supporters, who also said Li’s family had been denied repeated requests to meet her.
Li was arrested on 14 March 2021, having previously spent several months under “residential surveillance at a designated location”, a form of detention used by China’s police to hold someone outside of a normal prison without access to family or lawyers. After her release from that period of detention, Li described her experience as “black hoods and handcuffs, closed rooms, 24-hour white lights”.
Previously employed in Tsinghua University’s sociology department, Li had worked as a researcher and activist since at least 2017, when she worked with other volunteers to support migrant workers who had been evicted from their homes in Beijing in 2017. She later supported various MeToo campaigns and helped Xu maintain the website Beautiful China, where they published articles about China’s civil rights movement.
On Monday, Li’s supporters said they were very concerned about her physical health. She previously said she was denied access to anti-depressants while in detention. In 2020, she wrote that she was secretly weaning herself off the medication in anticipation of a future arrest.
Sarah Brooks, the head of Amnesty International’s China team, said: “Li’s trial highlights the deeply repressive environment for anyone who tries to advocate for human rights in China, even when their activities are entirely peaceful and protected under international law.”
