The subversion trial of Chinese dissident Li Jianping opened on Wednesday in eastern China’s Shandong province, with the writer accused of posting pro-democracy articles on the internet.
”Li Jianping’s trial began this morning,” an official at the Zibo city intermediate court told Agence France-Presse by phone.
”It is not clear if a verdict will be reached today.”
Li (40) a businessman and writer, was arrested in May last year after posting essays advocating greater democracy on the internet, according to the the China Rights Defenders and other international rights groups.
Although authorities have not specifically said what his alleged crimes were, overseas internet websites banned in China such as Boxun and Epoch Times have carried some of Li’s articles.
One described the late Mao Zedong’s regime as autocratic while another spoke about China’s lack of media freedom.
The maximum penalty for subversion is 15 years in jail, according to Li’s lawyer Zhang Xinshui.
International rights groups have lobbied for Li’s release and maintain he has done nothing wrong in posting political writings on the internet.
”Li’s conviction would violate international standards of free expression,” the Paris-based Reporters Without Borders said on Wednesday in a statement.
”His only crime was to express his views on such issues as democracy. We urge the judges to find him innocent and set him free, especially as he has already spent almost a year in prison for no good reason.”
Rights groups say China’s communist government is tightening control over the internet and the traditional press in an effort to quell growing social unrest. Last month another Shandong court sentenced secondary school teacher Ren Zhiyuan to 10 years’ jail for subversion after he posted political essays on the internet.
Prosecutors accused Ren of posting an essay entitled The Road to Democracy on the internet and attempting to recruit members to set up an organisation called ”Mainland Democracy Frontline.” – AFP
