Chinese citizens’ rights activist Hao Jinsong jailed for 9 years for fraud and ‘picking quarrels and provoking trouble’
- Hao’s campaigns to defend people’s rights once attracted favourable coverage in state media for his work to defend consumer rights
- Details of the case have not been made public, but picking quarrels and provoking troubles is a catch-all charge
A prominent Chinese legal activist has been jailed for fraud and “picking quarrels and provoking trouble”, the Post has learned.
Hao Jinsong, a public interest litigator, was given a nine-year sentence by a court in Dingxiang county in Shanxi province on Thursday, according to people familiar with the case. The verdict and details of the accusations have not been made public.
Hao’s work to defend citizens’ rights once saw him given favourable coverage in state media and awards for his contribution to social progress.
In 2008, Hao made a shortlist compiled by state broadcaster CCTV of those who had done the most to protect consumer rights. Between 2005 and 2010 various media outlets also featured him in annual round-ups of people who had made a positive contribution to society.
Hao held a graduate degree in criminal litigation from China University of Political Science and Law, but he chose to pursue administrative lawsuits as a citizen or citizen proxy instead of becoming a lawyer.
Details of his case, which has dragged on for almost two years, were first reported by the mainland media outlet Caixin in 2021, which said he denied three charges against him.
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According to Caixin, the indictment against Hao on this count accused him of using multiple social media accounts to repost and comment on topics, “some of which included false information” and “had caused confusion” by being widely circulated.
The fraud charge accuses him of acting as a lawyer and charging legal fees without a licence in 2013 and 2017 respectively.
The source said he had been cleared of a defamation charge, which accused him of retweeting and commenting on Twitter posts that “defamed and insulted national leaders”.
His lawyer told Caixin that Hao had been working with licensed lawyers during those cases, adding that he had provided services as a citizen with legal expertise and not as a qualified lawyer – something that is not against the law.
According to Article 33 of the Criminal Procedure Law, guardians, relatives and friends of criminal suspects and defendants may act as defenders.
“The concept of ‘relatives and friends’ is relatively broad. As long as one recognises another person and is willing to interact with him, he can be called a friend,” the lawyer told Caixin.
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In one of his high-profile cases, he successfully sued Beijing Railways for not issuing receipts to customers buying food.
In 2006, he sued the Ministry of Railways for not holding a public hearing when it raised ticket prices during the Lunar New Year holiday period.
Although he lost that court battle, the ministry scrapped the price hike shortly afterwards and the case attracted positive coverage from CCTV for defending the public interest.
