Beijing: Detained rights lawyer Chang Weiping — whose lawyers say he has suffered torture in incommunicado detention — stood trial for subversion on Tuesday behind closed doors, as his wife was prevented from travelling to the court in the northern Chinese province of Shaanxi, a report said.
Chang’s trial on charges of “subversion of state power” began at 9.00 a.m. local time at the Feng County People’s Court, as his wife Chen Zijuan tweeted that she had been pulled over at a highway exit and prevented from taking the exit for the court, RFA reported.
The sentence carries a maximum sentence of life imprisonment and a minimum jail term of 10 years.
The trial lasted around 90 minutes, with sentencing to be announced at a later date, Chen said via her Twitter account, RFA reported.
“Chang Weiping, I stand here today at the highway exit for Feng county,” Chen, clad in a green suit and holding a large bouquet of flowers, says in a short video recorded as police and Covid-19 enforcement officials mill around her.
“I want to present these flowers to you. Today is your Good Friday; but also I think your day of glory,” she said. “I’m so sorry that I was unable to be there for you in person despite travelling more than 2,000 km (1,240 miles) in the hope of seeing you with my own eyes.”
“But they have been holding me here on this highway for more than 10 hours now,” Chen says. “I just heard from the lawyer that the trial is over already.”
“But whatever the outcome, this has not been a fair trial. This trial wasn’t yours; instead it was the scene of their crime.”
–IANS