BEIJING – A Chinese director who made a film about the 2022 “white paper” demonstrations against China’s Covid-19 restrictions was sentenced to 3½ years in prison by a Shanghai court this week, his former lawyer said.
In the protests, people held up blank, white sheets of paper as a symbol of defiance against government efforts to censor criticism of the zero-Covid-19 policy.
The nationwide protests were the largest since the 1989 Tiananmen Square demonstrations and unprecedented since President Xi Jinping came to power in 2012.
In a closed-door trial on Jan 6, a judge sentenced Chen Pinlin, 33, to jail for “picking quarrels and provoking trouble”, said Mr Daniel Fang, who handled Chen’s case before leaving China in 2024. He cited people familiar with the case.
Chen, who pleaded guilty, plans to appeal against the sentence, Mr Fang cited the people as saying.
The Shanghai Baoshan District People’s Court did not respond to a request seeking comment.
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