A Chinese court will make its ruling in the trial of Taiwanese human rights advocate Lee Ming-che (李明哲) on Tuesday, Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) Deputy Ministry Chiu Chui-cheng (邱垂正) said last night.
The council has contacted Lee’s family after being notified by the Chinese lawyer appointed by the Chinese court for Lee’s defense and would make all efforts to assist Lee’s family in making the trip to attend the verdict hearing, Chiu said.
Lee, a staff member at Taipei’s Wenshan Community College and a volunteer at non-governmental organization Covenants Watch, went missing after entering China on March 19.
The Chinese government in May said that Lee had been arrested on charges of subverting state power and was being investigated on suspicion of undermining national security.
Chinese authorities on Sept. 11 released videos at a hearing at the Yueyang City Intermediate People’s Court in Hunan Province showing Lee pleading guilty to charges of “subversion of state power” and to intentionally disseminating information attacking the Chinese Communist Party.
Lee’s wife, Lee Ching-yu (李凈瑜), attended the hearing. Before leaving for China she had asked that Lee Ming-che’s supporters forgive him for anything he might be forced to say during the hearing that disappoints them.
Judicial Reform Foundation executive director of Kao Jung-chih (高榮志) said that the timing of the Sept. 11 hearing was deliberately set to stop Lee Ching-yu from traveling to Geneva on Sept. 10 and reporting on her husband’s case at a meeting of the UN working group on arbitrary detention and enforced disappearances.
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