2014-09-09
Photo courtesy of Guo Feixiong
Authorities in the southern Chinese province of Guangdong say they will try two prominent rights activists this week on public order charges, but their defense lawyers have threatened to boycott the trial in protest at the flouting of legal procedures by the court.
Detained rights lawyer Yang Maodong, who is better known by his pseudonym Guo Feixiong, was detained in Aug. 8, 2013 on suspicion of “gathering a crowd to disrupt social order” after he petitioned the government to ratify U.N. human rights treaties.
However, his case has been sent back for further investigation twice by the state prosecution service in Guangzhou’s Tianhe district, leading to repeated delays in the trial.
Fellow rights activist Sun Desheng will also stand trial on the same charges of “gathering a crowd to disrupt public order.”
Guo’s lawyer Zhang Xuezhong said he was informed of the schedule on Tuesday.
“The trial will take place at 9.00 a.m. on Sept. 12 at the Tianhe District People’s Court [in Guangzhou],” Zhang said.
“The court called me and messaged me to inform me.”
Court-imposed restrictions
Zhang said Sun and Guo’s defense teams will be limited to submitting their arguments on paper, and will only be allowed to use computers provided by the court.
“There is no basis for the second requirement, and the court should not have special measures for this particular case,” Zhang said.
Shandong-based rights lawyer Chen Guangwu, who is also defending Guo, agreed.
“For the time being, we have told the court we can’t accommodate this request,” Chen said, suggesting that the trial may run into procedural delays, as has happened in recent trials of other rights activists.
Sun’s lawyer Ge Wenxiu said he would also be objecting. “The court is acting illegally, and they are just springing this on us to mess us about,” he said.
“I won’t be attending the trial on Friday,” Ge said.
