1st LD-Writethru: Former lawyer convicted of inciting subversion: court

CHANGSHA, Dec. 26 (Xinhua) -- Xie Yang, a former lawyer, has been convicted of inciting subversion of state power, but was exempted from criminal penalties, according to a verdict issued Tuesday by a court in central China's Changsha city.

Xie accepted the verdict issued by the Changsha City Intermediate People's Court and said he would not appeal.

Xie was found to have made a number of statements attacking or defaming China's current political system and inciting subversion of state power.

He also disturbed the order in court while he worked as a lawyer, according to the verdict.

The court said it has found that Xie, long influenced by anti-China forces, had gradually formed ideas about subverting China's current political system.

Since 2012, he had issued seditious statements via the Internet on multiple occasions, and by hyping "high-profile cases," had attacked the system mandated by China's constitution and incited subversion of state power and the socialist system, according to the court.

Between 2014 and March 2015, Xie, acting as an attorney in a case at the time, gathered people involved to "observe" a court hearing, during which they banged on tables and insulted the judge, the court said.

It also found that Xie had incited people to confront the government by intentionally hyping up a case of assaulting police in Qing'an county in 2015.

Also in 2015, while acting as an attorney in a civil case, Xie was assaulted by members of the opposite party. He used social networking services to accuse the local police of battery and fabricated a story that the police had organized gangs and meddled in economic disputes, smearing the local police and inciting hatred against the government.

He also traveled overseas several times to receive training organized by anti-China forces and seek links with subversive forces, both domestic and overseas, the court found.

The court said Xie's acts constitute the crime of inciting subversion of state power, and the prosecutors' indictment was based on clear facts and sufficient evidence.

Xie was also accused of disrupting court order, but the court ruled that the misconduct need not be convicted as a separate crime.

The court said the decision to exempt him from criminal penalties was made with the consideration that Xie's acts had yet to cause serious harm to society and that Xie had confessed his wrongdoings and showed repentance during the investigation and proceedings.

At the pronouncement proceedings, Xie expressed thanks to the collegiate bench personnel, prosecutors and his defense counsel, saying that his rights had been fully protected during detention and following processes.

He also expressed gratitude to the court's decision and pledged to observe the law in the future.

Over 40 people, including Xie's family, legal scholars, lawyers, journalists and members of the public, attended Tuesday's pronouncement, which was also broadcast by the court's official microblog.

Xie received interviews from domestic and overseas media after the proceeding. Enditem