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Update on Meeting with Zhang Guanghong

December 7, 2017

In the afternoon of December 7, 2017, lawyer Sui Muqing met with well-known netizen Zhang Guanghong (web name Nianhua Shiping) at Yuexiu District Detention Center in Guangzhou. Zhang, who was arrested for the crime of “insulting,” told the lawyer that Yuexiu police accused him of reposting a message that insulted president Xi Jinping in a WhatsApp group. However, Zhang did not remember having forwarded the post, which probably only contained a phrase in critique such as “wantonly taking on military ventures” but didn’t include insulting words. Lawyer Sui believes that WhatsApp group chats are a private space, and the so-called evidence gathering done by the police—through exploiting software backdoors—could amount to illegal evidence gathering and framing. Plus, even if the police’s “criminal evidence” did support their allegation, Zhang was simply exercising his right as a citizen to freedom of speech, which does not constitute a crime.


张广红会见通报

隋牧青律师

张广红,网名“拈花时评”,知名网友,多年来发帖批评时政,屡次因言获罪,曾两遭行政拘留,时常被骚扰、喝茶。数年前因转发狼牙山“五壮士”真相贴被行拘,愤而起诉广州越秀警方。

今年10.12,适逢十九大维稳期间被刑拘,11.16以侮辱罪被批准逮捕。

今天下午十五时三十分许,我受托赶赴越秀区看守所,顺利会见了张广红,会见持续约一小时二十分。

根据张广红介绍,案情很简单,很荒唐,有点难以置信。

张广红曾被提审两次,因对讯问的相关内容无法确认,故均未在讯问笔录签字。

被捕缘起于越秀警方指其曾在whatsApp群转发一贴,有侮辱习近平主席的内容,张不记得转发过该帖,且该帖似乎只有“穷兵黩武”这样的批评性言论,并无侮辱性言词。

作为张广红辩护律师,我对本案的初步看法:

1.WhatsApp群系私密封闭空间,警方通过软件后门获取所谓罪证有违法取证、陷人入罪之嫌。以侵犯公民隐私的方式打击所谓犯罪,其社会危害远甚于普通犯罪。由此观之,越秀警方借十九大维稳打击报复张广红的嫌疑不小。

2.即使警方指控的所谓犯罪事实证据确凿,也不过是公民正常行使言论自由权,与违法犯罪无涉。

3.在现代文明社会,普通人的私权受到法律严格保护,而政府首脑、高官则可随意批评甚至羞辱。侮辱罪依法通常需受害人自诉,如今越秀警方越俎代庖大动干戈,动用刑律维护领袖形象,显得领袖毫无雅量,实收抹黑领袖形象之功效。

张广红自述羁押期间,待遇正常。此次被抓有些莫名其妙,因而精神压力不小。

他非常感谢网友们的关注和支持!
 

隋牧青律师

2017.12.7晚