Written by Lori Chen
BEIJING (Reuters) – A Shanghai court has sentenced a Chinese director who produced a film about the 2022 “White Paper” demonstrations against coronavirus restrictions in China to three and a half years in prison, his former lawyer said.
At the protests, people carried blank white papers as a symbol of defiance against government efforts to censor criticism of its coronavirus suppression policy.
The protests across the country were the largest since the Tiananmen Square demonstrations of 1989 and unprecedented since President Xi Jinping came to power in 2012.
Daniel Fang, who handled Chen's case before he left China last year, told Reuters that the judge sentenced Chen Binlin, 33, to prison on charges of “picking quarrels and stirring up trouble” in a closed trial on Monday. He referred to people familiar with the case.
Chen, who pleaded guilty, intends to appeal the ruling, Fang quoted sources as saying.
The Shanghai Baoshan District People's Court did not respond to a request for comment.
“Inciting quarrels and stirring up trouble” is a charge commonly used by the Chinese government against dissidents and human rights activists. It is punishable by imprisonment for a maximum of five years.
“Documentary filmmaker Chen Binlin was only serving the public interest by documenting a historical episode of anti-censorship protest,” said Alexandra Belakowska, advocacy director at Reporters Without Borders.
“We call on the international community to increase pressure on the regime to secure the release of Chen Binlin, along with 123 other journalists and press freedom advocates currently detained in the country.”
film
Chen's 77-minute film, titled “Urumqi Road,” was uploaded to YouTube in late 2023 under his pseudonym “Plato.”
It consists of footage filmed by Chen in Shanghai as well as videos posted by netizens that were quickly deleted from Chinese social media.
He was arrested by Shanghai police in late November 2023, then formally arrested in January last year, according to Amnesty International.
Although the police quickly suppressed the protests, they helped hasten the end of some of the world's strictest pandemic restrictions.
Throughout the pandemic, China said its strict COVID-19 measures were necessary to save lives and ensure people's health, before abruptly ending them in late 2022.
The protests mostly focused on coronavirus restrictions, but some demonstrators in Beijing also called for freedom of expression and democracy.
Those who participated in the white paper protests say that after China reopened due to the coronavirus, the Chinese government continued to suppress public efforts to mourn the victims of the pandemic and commemorate demonstrations.
At the time, police questioned and briefly detained dozens of participants, while a small number of women were detained for four months in Beijing, according to human rights groups, protesters and friends of those affected.
Chen's film continues to be screened outside China by human rights activists and Chinese communities.
