BOSTON—A Boston man accused of compiling a “blacklist” of U.S.-based dissidents for the Chinese regime was cleared of all charges on Monday.
A jury acquitted Litang Liang, 65, of charges that he conspired to act and acted as an agent of a foreign government without notice to the attorney general between 2018 to 2022.
Liang, a China-born U.S. citizen, had denied the charges and pleaded not guilty.
Following his acquittal on Monday, Liang told reporters outside the court “justice has finally arrived” via an interpreter.
U.S. Attorney Leah Foley, whose office pursued the case, told The Epoch Times in an email, “While we respect the jury’s decision, we are disappointed in today’s verdict.”
Liang was accused of providing People’s Republic of China (PRC) government officials with information on Boston-based individuals and organizations, including those with pro-Taiwan leanings.
During the trial, the prosecution produced messages between Liang and an individual named Gilbert Ho, showing Ho provided Liang with a list of 14 names and photos after Liang said he had spoke to a PRC diplomat about a “blacklist” and asked for Ho’s help.
Assistant U.S. Attorneys Timothy Kistner and Menno Goedman said Liang collected the names because he believes they hold views different to those of the PRC.
Liang’s defense lawyer Derege Demissie said it was a list of people who were to be excluded from a New Year banquet.
Demissie said in his closing argument that there’s no evidence to show Liang had forwarded the list to anyone after he received it. He described the prosecution as “half baked, selective, [and] misleading.”
Liang was also accused of providing names of potential recruits to the PRC’s Ministry of Public Security (MPS), and organizing a counter-protest in the United States against pro-democracy Hong Kong activists.
Prosecutors said that in 2018, after traveling to Beijing for meetings with an arm of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), Liang founded the New England Alliance for the Peaceful Unification of China, which focused on promoting China’s goals with Taiwan.
The CCP has never ruled Taiwan, but it claims the self-governed island is part of the PRC.
Defending Liang, Demissie said these actions showed Liang is an “energetic, motivated, self-driven person, who is an activist.”
“Simply acting in accordance to foreign interest, simply acting in parallel with a foreign government, and pursuing a mutual goal with foreign interests” are not a crime without proof that such actions are directed or controlled by a foreign government, he argued.
Kistner told jurors in his closing arguments that the PRC government sought out Liang because it “wanted someone already involved in the community who knew the people who were there.”
‘Troubling’ Argument
During the jury deliberation, Judge Indira Talwani took issues with some of Demissie’s argument, including his statement that the court was “appointed by the government.”The statement is “really troubling,” the judge said, because it appeared to hint that the jury needed to ignore the judge’s instructions.
Talwani said it was her first time hear someone refer to the judge as a “judge appointed by government,” and suggested the attorney not to make any such comments in future court proceedings.
She also mentioned that Demissie alleged during his the closing arguments that the prosecution’s intention was to chill his client’s First Amendment rights despite the fact the judge had already granted the government’s motion to exclude arguments relating to the First Amendment.
The judge granted the government’s motion because “the jury’s mandate is to decide factual matters: whether the Defendant conspired with and knowingly acted as an agent of the PRC government, and whether he or his conspirators notified the Attorney General. Argument concerning the scope of the First Amendment will serve only to mislead or confuse the jury concerning what issues they are to decide.”
In a statement to The Epoch Times, Boston-based pro-democracy Hong Kong activist Frances Hui, who testified at Liang’s hearing last week, said she’s “deeply disappointed” about the verdict.
“While I respect the legal process, this outcome is a sobering reminder of the challenges in holding perpetrators of transnational repression accountable in the way our system works when public awareness of the extent of foreign influence is insufficient,” she said.
In 2019, Hui was an organizer of a “Boston stands with Hong Kong” rally, against which Liang held a counter-protest.
Hui urged dissidents not to be discouraged by Monday’s verdict and continue to report threats they face to the police.
