June 9, 2014 12:52 pm
Financial Times
Chinese prosecutors have dropped charges against a labour activist in southern Guangdong province, in a case widely seen as a litmus test of official tolerance for the country’s increasingly robust worker movement.
Wu Guijun, 41, went on trial in Shenzhen this year for allegedly leading a worker protest that disrupted public order – a charge used to jail a number of legal rights activists over the past 12 months.
On Monday, however, prosecutors dropped the charges. Mr Wu had been released on bail late last month after spending more than a year in a detention centre, where he shared a small room with as many as 50 other prisoners. He could have spent another four years behind bars had he been convicted.
“I was held for one year and seven days on dubious grounds,” Mr Wu said. “At a minimum I expect them to give me a reasonable explanation and am discussing possible next steps with my legal team.”
Labour lawyers and activists rallied to Mr Wu’s defence, packing the courtroom when his trial began in February. Mr Wu admitted leading workers who demanded more compensation when they were informed that their furniture factory was moving to a cheaper location inland.
But he insisted the workers were simply protecting their legal rights, and denied leading a march to local government offices during which traffic was allegedly disrupted.
“It seems pretty clear that the prosecution simply didn’t have any evidence [against Mr Wu],” said Geoffrey Crothall of China Labour Bulletin, a Hong Kong-based worker rights group. “The court would have looked stupid if it had gone ahead and produced a guilty verdict.”
Mr Wu is the latest labour activist to receive relatively lenient treatment.
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