Xu Zhangrun was fired after he criticised President Xi Jinping.
Beijing:
A distinguished Chinese language authorized scholar who was detained after which fired after criticising President Xi Jinping hopes to clear his identify by overturning a prostitution cost introduced towards him by police, his lawyer stated on Wednesday.
Xu Zhangrun, a former constitutional legislation professor on the prestigious Tsinghua College, was detained by police in Beijing in early July for practically per week after being accused of soliciting prostitution whereas within the southwestern metropolis of Chengdu final December.
Xu engaged rights attorneys Mo Shaoping and his accomplice Shang Baojun on Tuesday evening in an effort to overturn the cost, Mo instructed Reuters.
“Professor Xu engaged us as a result of he rejects the trumped up prostitution expenses meant to smear his identify,” stated Mo.
Based on Mo, as proof of his offence, police from Chengdu’s Qingyang district offered a girl who stated she had intercourse with Xu. Xu contends that he had by no means seen her earlier than, Mo stated.
Xu and his attorneys are nonetheless deciding the precise plan of action to take, Mo stated. His choices are to lodge an enchantment to the Chengdu city-level police or sue the district police, Mo stated.
Neither Xu nor the Chengdu district police might be instantly reached for remark.
Whereas Xu was being detained, Beijing’s Tsinghua College fired him for violating its moral code. It cited the prostitution case in addition to numerous articles Xu had printed since July 2018, in a discover seen by Reuters.
Xu, 57, got here to prominence in July 2018 for denouncing the elimination of the two-term restrict for China’s chief.
On the peak of China’s coronavirus outbreak in February, Xu wrote an article calling for freedom of speech. In Might, he wrote an article accusing Xi of attempting to deliver the Cultural Revolution again to China.
Beneath Xi, China has clamped down on dissent and tightened censorship.
(Apart from the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV workers and is printed from a syndicated feed.)
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