A leading Chinese rights activist who organized rallies for media freedom pleaded not guilty to charges of disturbing public order in an all-night trial in which the judge rejected his requests for food, a lawyer said.
The case against Yang Maodong (楊茂東), 48, comes amid a broadening crackdown on dissent.
New York-based Human Rights Watch called on authorities to drop the charges against Yang — who is better known by his penname, Guo Feixiong (郭飛雄) — and fellow defendant Sun Desheng (孫德勝), who was arrested for urging the Chinese government to grant more rights to its people and to disclose officials’ assets.
Zhang Lei (張磊), lawyer for Yang, said on a microblogging Web site that the trials on Friday against Yang and Sun at Tianhe District Court got off to a tense start when the court several times cut off arguments by the defense.
The hearing ended at 2:50am yesterday with the judge granting a recess after Yang apparently nearly fainted from hunger.
The court had repeatedly rejected earlier requests for food, Sun’s lawyer, Chen Jinxue (陳進學) said.
The lawyers said both Yang and Sun had been mistreated in detention. Yang was denied any outdoor break for 469 days, and Sun had his ankles and wrists shackled for a week leading up to the trial, Zhang said.
A court employee declined to confirm the trials, but he said a “special case” was taking place, but did not elaborate further.
Rights lawyers and advocates said security was heavy around the courthouse and stretched as far as 3km out.
Yang has advocated for greater political freedom and more civic engagement in China. In January last year, Yang helped organize demonstrations and spoke in support of the editorial staff at the newspaper Southern Weekly in Guangzhou after its journalists said a New Year’s message that called for rule by the constitution was altered because of censorship.
The charge alleges he gathered crowds to disrupt public order, but his supporters say the rallies were orderly.
He also encouraged activists to hold up placards in several cities.
To avoid confrontation with police, the activists typically did not linger, but left quickly after taking photographs of their acts, then posted the images on the Internet.
Authorities have found such acts unacceptable, and Chinese courts have actively prosecuted the quick protests.
Sun was not involved with the Southern Weekly rallies, but his charge — the same as Yang’s — stems from his unfurling banners calling for public disclosure of officials’ assets and urging China’s legislature to ratify the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, Chen said.
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