2014-11-28
Guo Feixiong (R) with outspoken rights lawyer Gao Zhisheng (L) in Beijing, Jan. 6, 2006.
AFP
Authorities in the southern Chinese city of Guangzhou on Friday began the trials of two prominent rights activists on public order offenses, as their relatives and lawyers hit out at court officials over a lack of a fair hearing.
Judges in Guangzhou’s Tianhe’s District People’s Court refused to allow lawyers defending Yang Maodong, better known by his nickname Guo Feixiong, and Sun Sihuo, better known as Sun Desheng, to speak or raise objections during their trial on charges of “gathering a crowd to disrupt public order,” lawyers told RFA.
The two men have been held in police detention since being detained in 2013, after taking part in street protests for press freedom and calling for greater government transparency and protection for human rights.
Guo’s sister Yang Maoping, who attended the trial, said she had little faith that her brother would receive fair treatment in the case against him.
“I didn’t really understand this until I attended this trial, but the authorities are really just framing [my brother],” Yang said during a recess.
Zhang Lei, a defense lawyer for Guo said he was repeatedly cut off and interrupted by judges during the one-day trial, making it hard to mount a proper defense.
“We were cut off and prevented from finishing what we had to say, in particular during the morning session,” Zhang told RFA.
“We were cut off every time we lodged an objection, made a request for a larger courtroom or an open trial so that all those who wanted to attend the trial could do so,” he said.
“I objected very strongly to this.”
Anti-censorship protests
According to the indictment, the charge against Guo was based on his participation in anti-censorship demonstrations outside the cutting-edge Southern Weekend newspaper offices in Guangzhou in early 2013, where he held up a placard and made a speech in favor of press freedom.
Guo’s placards called on officials to publicly disclose their assets, and for the Chinese government to ratify the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which it signed in 1998.
Sun was also accused of holding up placards and “flash mob” activities, inciting crowds to disturb the order of a public place, it said.
The indictment also accused Guo of organizing others, including Sun, to post online photos of themselves engaged in similar peaceful expression in eight other Chinese cities.
However, it gave no details of how their actions had affected public order.
Both Guo and Sun are pleading not guilty to the charges, but were also cut off by judges when they tried to speak in their own defense, their lawyers said.
Sun’s lawyer Chen Jinxue said he had also complained about being cut off while speaking during the trial.
“The refusal to allow the defense and the defendant to finish what they are saying has clearly prejudiced this trial in terms of its fairness and impartiality,” Chen said.
