Detained Chinese human rights lawyer Pu Zhiqiang gets pre-trial meeting date

A pre-trial meeting for the case of detained rights lawyer Pu Zhiqiang has been scheduled for Tuesday, one of his lawyers said on Sunday.

Shang Baojun said the meeting at the Beijing No 2 Intermediate People’s Court would be attended by judges, prosecution authorities and defence lawyers to discuss procedural issues, but he did not know when the trial would be. Pre-trial meetings can take place anytime from days to months before the actual trial, lawyers say.

Shang said he had planned to meet Pu Monday but was unsure whether Pu would be at Tuesday's meeting. He declined to discuss issues he planned to bring up in the meeting.

READ MORE: Sarcasm and ‘abusive language’: the remarks that led China to rights lawyer Pu Zhiqiang’s arrest

Pu, detained for a year and a half without trial, was denied bail in September. His case has been postponed twice, mostly recently in mid-November, raising questions about why he has been held for so long. He is suffering various chronic illnesses including diabetes, heart disease and high blood pressure.

Pu, 50, has taken on many causes, including defending artist Ai Weiwei and other prominent rights activists, advocating the scrapping of the country’s labour camp system, and helping Communist Party members who had been tortured during detention in corruption investigations.

Pu, charged with “inciting ethnic hatred” and “picking quarrels and provoking trouble”, faces up to eight years in jail, his lawyers have said.

READ MORE: ‘In the case of human rights lawyer Pu Zhiqiang, China must ensure justice is fair and swift’

Pu’s alleged crimes were said by the prosecution authorities to be “serious” because he posted messages on his microblog to “incite ethnic hatred” and “openly insult others” and his acts “damaged social order”.