After more than a year of detention for allegedly “provoking and provoking trouble” last year, the families of two volunteers from Beijing’s TuanDotStar website have been notified that their case will be heard on Tuesday at the Wenyuhe Court in Beijing’s Chaoyang District. The family was notified that the case against the two men would be heard on Tuesday (11) at the Wenyuhe Court of Beijing’s Chaoyang District Court.
One of the defendants, Chen Mei’s brother Chen Koon, announced the case on social media sites. He said he was notified by the court on Saturday (8) that a close family member could attend the trial, and that his mother and the father of the other arrestee, Cai Wei, would both attend the trial.
The two defendants, Chen Mei and Cai Wei, are both volunteers on the TuanDotStar website, which re-posted more than 100 articles related to the new pneumonia outbreak last year, including a story in memory of Wuhan doctor Li Wenliang. Chen Mei and Cai Wei were subsequently taken away by public security officials last April, and their families were notified two months later that they had been arrested on suspicion of “provoking and provoking trouble.
After the incident last year, Chen Mei’s brother, Chen Koon, was interviewed by our reporter and pointed out that the defense lawyers appointed by the family were forcibly replaced by government-appointed lawyers, and neither the defense lawyers nor the family could meet with the two men. Chen Koon said the official claimed that his brother had voluntarily applied for free legal aid and was first assigned two lawyers. But the family is concerned that the government-appointed lawyers may not stand up for Chen Mei’s defense.
Chen Mei’s friends believe that Chen Min is not a contributor to her backup articles, which have been made public, and do not understand why the re-uploading of information will lead to arrest, and said many volunteers who have participated in volunteer work to help with the new pneumonia are now worried about their personal safety.
It is reported that during the detention of Chen Mei and Cai Wei, Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and many other international human rights organizations have publicly called on the Chinese authorities to release them. A mainland lawyer said the crime of “provoking and provoking trouble” was initially used for hooliganism, such as gathering and stirring up trouble, but in recent years it has been used more often in cases of online rumors and fearful comments. The new uploading of news materials or commentary articles should not be illegal, but the new crown pneumonia topic is more sensitive, the official may make another treatment.
Cai Wei and Chen Mei are both public-spirited post-90s college graduates who have long been concerned about and involved in public service issues. Cai even graduated from Tsinghua University’s sociology department with a master’s degree in 2018. Cai Wei’s teacher, Guo Hua, a professor in Tsinghua’s sociology department, also called for public attention after the incident in a Twitter post: “What provocation did the three young people seek? What’s the problem? Show us the legal evidence”.
After a group of volunteers set up the website “Endpoint Star” and found out that the articles and information on the social controversy were deleted by the authorities, the volunteers will upload the deleted articles to a special platform so that netizens can have a chance to read them again. Officials also did not allow lawyers hired by the family to represent them.
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