Court to rule on leniency request

A former Chinese lawyer pleaded guilty to subversion and "disrupting court order" - a charge similar to contempt of court - during a hearing in Hunan province on Monday.

Xie Yang, 45, showed remorse for his crimes at Changsha Intermediate People's Court and denied claims that he was tortured while in police detention.

"What I did went against my identity as a lawyer. These actions tainted the image of the country and the Communist Party, and had a very negative effect," he said. "I hope the judicial authorities can give me an opportunity to correct my mistakes and start anew."

Xie, a Hunan native who was employed by a law firm in Changsha, asked for leniency from the court, which will deliver its sentence at a later date.

Police placed Xie under investigation in July 2015 and arrested him in January 2016, prosecutors said.

Prosecutors presented evidence that Xie had attended sessions organized by overseas groups that increased his resentment toward the Chinese political system. Xie wrote over 180 posts attacking the Chinese government and system on his Sina Weibo account, with some posts calling subverting state power a human right. The posts had 300,000 hits online, prosecutors said.

He was also accused of disrupting court order on March 9, 2015, when he was representing a number of villagers from Yuhua district of Changsha in a dispute over land reclamation.

During the hearing, the court discovered that two others Xie hired to represent the villagers did not have lawyer's certificates, so the court ordered the two to leave the court. Xie then pounded a desk and verbally abused the judge, prosecutors said, adding that he incited the parties involved to confront the court, causing chaos in the courtroom and forcing suspension of the trial.

On Monday, Xie was represented by two lawyers from his former law firm, He Xiaodian and Liu Zhijiang, who insisted that their client should be immune from punishment on the charge of disrupting court order since he did not collude with those involved to disrupt court order before the hearing.

During his court statement, Xie also said that police and prosecutors had not used torture to force a confession, and expressed his sincere apology for misleading the public over reports of his "torture".

"The court hearing has given me a fuller understanding that my previous actions have constituted crime. I feel ashamed and regret deeply my previous actions," he said.

xuwei@chinadaily.com.cn