Global Times Says Xu Zhiyong Verdict Prompts Debate, While Sina Weibo Censors “Why We Believe He is Innocent”

On January 28, 2014, the state-sponsored Global Times published an article in English entitled “ Xu Zhiyong Trial Prompts Debate .” Some excerpts: "Despite knowing that organizing people to gather in public places for certain appeals and holding banners would draw onlookers, which could easily disrupt social order and cause participants to resist law enforcement, Xu kept doing so and did not take effective measures to prevent such consequences," the court stated when giving grounds for the conviction in the indictment. However, in a document posted online late Sunday evening, five law professors called for a review into the legal basis for Xu's charges. . . . . Peng Bing, a professor with Peking University and one of the five scholars, confirmed to the Global Times his views on the opinion piece. "It was a mere academic discussion on the legality of the verdict. We did not call for anything," Peng said. The opinion mentioned by the Global Times was penne