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Another Chinese activist charged with subversion

A Chinese activist who questioned why so many schoolchildren died in last year’s massive earthquake has been charged with subversion and will stand trial in the middle of this month, his lawyer said yesterday.

Tan Zuoren’s (譚作人) trial is to begin on Aug. 12 in Chengdu, the capital of Sichuan Province, where a devastating earthquake last year left nearly 90,000 dead or missing, said lawyer Pu Zhi-qiang (蒲志強) of Beijing’s Huayi Law Firm.

Tan is accused of inciting to subvert state power, but it was not immediately clear what evidence will be brought against him, Pu said by telephone from Chengdu.

Beijing routinely uses the charge of subversion to imprison dissidents for years.

COLLAPSE

Following the 7.9-magnitude earthquake in Sichuan, Tan tried to investigate the collapse of school buildings in the quake and the number of schoolchildren killed, estimating at least 5,600 students were victims.

Tan had hoped to complete his investigation before the May 12 anniversary of the quake, but he was detained in late March, Hong Kong-based activist network Chinese Human Rights Defenders said earlier.

In May, the government finally released its own count of students killed in the disaster, putting the official toll at 5,335.

Critics allege that corruption-enabled shoddy construction caused several schools to collapse while buildings nearby remained intact — a politically sensitive theory that the government has tried to quash.

FORCE

Officials blame the sheer force of the quake as the main cause of the number of flattened schools.

Pu said the charges appear to be linked to Tan’s quake investigation as well as essays he wrote about the 1989 student-led demonstrations in Tiananmen Square that ended in a deadly military crackdown.
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