Civil rights lawyer drops appeal plans

A Chinese civil rights lawyer has decided not to appeal after a 10-day "residential surveillance" ended Monday, one of his attorneys told the Global Times on Sunday. "Pu Zhiqiang is unlikely to appeal, but I can't assure you before the residential surveillance ends," Mo Shaoping, one of Pu's attorneys, confirmed with the Global Times on Sunday. Pu, 50, was sentenced to a three-year suspended jail term for "inciting ethnic hatred" and "picking quarrels and provoking trouble" by Beijing's No.2 Intermediate People's Court on December 22. He was released from detention on the same day. He then reunited with his wife at an undisclosed location away from his home. Pu said he believes that under current circumstances, chances for a higher court to reverse the verdict are very slim, Mo previously told the Global Times. Pu had been detained since May 2014. He was officially arrested in June 2014 for provoking trouble and "illegally obtaining citizens' personal information." Later, additional charges were slapped against him for inciting a split in the country and ethnic hatred. But during his December 14 trial, the charges were reduced to inciting ethnic hatred and provoking trouble. A China Central Television news report showed Pu's written confession, in which he said, "I acknowledge the criminal facts presented by public prosecutors," and that "my behavior fanned ethnic hatred and provoked trouble."