A Chinese activist known for pushing legal issues and backing a jailed Nobel peace laureate went on trial on Friday on a vaguely worded charge, reinforcing Beijing’s sweeping crackdown on dissent.
Wang Lihong (王荔蕻), 56, pleaded not guilty to the charge of “creating a disturbance” stemming from her participation in a demonstration outside a court in Fuzhou City in southern China in April last year. The gathering was in support of three bloggers accused of slander after they tried to help an illiterate woman pressure authorities to reinvestigate her daughter’s death.
One of Wang’s lawyers, Han Yicun (韓一村), said the trial lasted two-and-a-half hours and that a verdict was expected later this month. If convicted, she faces up to five years in jail.
Photo: AFP
Han said the trial was not fair because the judge interrupted both him and Wang as they tried to present her defense and because they were assigned a courtroom too small to accommodate observers. A second lawyer, Liu Xiaoyuan (劉曉原), was allowed to speak without interruption, he said.
About half a dozen supporters linked arms outside Wenyuhe People’s Court in a Beijing suburb and chanted: “Wang Lihong come home” and “Wang Lihong is innocent.” They were surrounded by police.
Representatives from eight countries and the EU were also on hand. They were taken into the courthouse, but were not allowed to observe the trial.
Germany’s human rights commissioner Markus Loening said he could not understand why the European representatives were not allowed to attend the trial and called on Chinese authorities to release Wang immediately.
“Both the accusations against Wang Lihong and the inappropriately long investigative custody awaken the impression of political persecution,” Loening said in a statement.
Wang was detained by Beijing police in late March during a widespread crackdown on activists as the authorities moved to prevent the growth of a Middle East-style protest movement.
Wang’s son Qi Jianxiang (齊建翔), 26, said outside the courthouse that he had not seen his mother in four months and asked why she was on trial in Beijing if the alleged incident happened in southern China.
Qi observed the proceedings and was able to speak briefly with his mother, who he said looked weak with more gray hair, but was otherwise fine.
“My mother is very strong,” he said. “She was very encouraging to me. I also encouraged her and said I was proud of her.”
Zhao Lianhai (趙連海), an activist previously jailed for protesting a massive tainted milk scandal, said he eluded state security at his home and took a bus to the courthouse, adding that he felt it was his responsibility to speak out and support Wang.
Another supporter, Tianjin bank employee Zhang Lanying, said she took a 6am train to get to the court to show her support for Wang.
“I don’t know her personally, but I know her story and have read her essays. I respect and admire her spirit, courage and humanity,” said Zhang, who has been petitioning Tianjin authorities over the alleged illegal demolition of her home.
Public activism has surged in China in recent years, helped by the popularity of microblogs, which allow the rapid dissemination of information. Bloggers have swung into action on prominent cases such as the mysterious death last Christmas of an activist village leader and a train crash near the eastern city of Wenzhou last month that killed at least 40 people.
Wang also joined a handful of activists in publicly celebrating the awarding of the Nobel Peace Prize to jailed Chinese dissident Liu Xiaobo (劉曉波) in October.
“I think the most important thing is that every person learns how to be their own citizen, and not become someone else’s subordinate,” Wang said in an interview at the time.
Wang began pursuing rights issues in 2008 after retiring from a business renovating and renting out basement dwellings, her son said earlier this month. She took it upon herself to investigate reports of injustice that had spread on the Internet, he said.
HOLLYWOOD IN TURMOIL: Mandy Moore, Paris Hilton and Cary Elwes lost properties to the flames, while awards events planned for this week have been delayed Fires burning in and around Los Angeles have claimed the homes of numerous celebrities, including Billy Crystal, Mandy Moore and Paris Hilton, and led to sweeping disruptions of entertainment events, while at least five people have died. Three awards ceremonies planned for this weekend have been postponed. Next week’s Oscar nominations have been delayed, while tens of thousands of city residents had been displaced and were awaiting word on whether their homes survived the flames — some of them the city’s most famous denizens. More than 1,900 structures had been destroyed and the number was expected to increase. More than 130,000 people
THE ‘MONSTER’: The Philippines on Saturday sent a vessel to confront a 12,000-tonne Chinese ship that had entered its exclusive economic zone The Philippines yesterday said it deployed a coast guard ship to challenge Chinese patrol boats attempting to “alter the existing status quo” of the disputed South China Sea. Philippine Coast Guard spokesman Commodore Jay Tarriela said Chinese patrol ships had this year come as close as 60 nautical miles (111km) west of the main Philippine island of Luzon. “Their goal is to normalize such deployments, and if these actions go unnoticed and unchallenged, it will enable them to alter the existing status quo,” he said in a statement. He later told reporters that Manila had deployed a coast guard ship to the area
A group of Uyghur men who were detained in Thailand more than one decade ago said that the Thai government is preparing to deport them to China, alarming activists and family members who say the men are at risk of abuse and torture if they are sent back. Forty-three Uyghur men held in Bangkok made a public appeal to halt what they called an imminent threat of deportation. “We could be imprisoned and we might even lose our lives,” the letter said. “We urgently appeal to all international organizations and countries concerned with human rights to intervene immediately to save us from
Some things might go without saying, but just in case... Belgium’s food agency issued a public health warning as the festive season wrapped up on Tuesday: Do not eat your Christmas tree. The unusual message came after the city of Ghent, an environmentalist stronghold in the country’s East Flanders region, raised eyebrows by posting tips for recycling the conifers on the dinner table. Pointing with enthusiasm to examples from Scandinavia, the town Web site suggested needles could be stripped, blanched and dried — for use in making flavored butter, for instance. Asked what they thought of the idea, the reply
RSS