BEIJING — A prominent Chinese rights lawyer taken into custody a year ago was formally indicted Friday on charges of fanning ethnic hatred and provoking trouble.
Prosecutors said in a statement that Pu Zhiqiang should be criminally prosecuted for his online comments, which they said had incited ethnic hostility and insulted people in a disruption of social order.
Pu’s indictment, amid a widening campaign by Beijing to weaken and discredit the country’s rights lawyers, drew criticism from international human rights advocates, and the US State Department has called for his release.