[nfbwatlk] follow up on Chen Guangcheng

[Carl Jarvis]

Scuffles in China as Trial of Peasants' Rights Advocate Is Postponed - New
York Times
www.nytimes.com/?pagewanted=print
July 21, 2006
Scuffles in China as Trial of Peasants' Rights Advocate Is Postponed
By
JOSEPH KAHN
BEIJING, July 20 - Chinese officials postponed the criminal trial of a
peasants' rights advocate on Thursday as his supporters gathered in large
numbers
to protest what they say is a politically motivated prosecution.
Some 200 people gathered outside a courthouse in Yinan County, Shandong
Province, where Chen Guangcheng, who is blind and taught himself law, had
been scheduled
to go on trial on charges of destroying property and blocking traffic.
Some supporters scuffled with the police, and participants in the gathering
said 11 people had been detained briefly before the crowd dispersed.
Court officials, who had issued a written notice of the July 20 trial date,
decided at the last minute to postpone the trial. But they issued no written
notice of their decision and did not set a new date, Mr. Chen's lead lawyer,
Li Jinsong, said by telephone.
Court officials told him that prosecutors in the case had requested extra
time to prepare evidence in the case, Mr. Li said.
He said he hoped that the postponement was a sign that prosecutors were
dissatisfied with the evidence gathered against Mr. Chen, which his lawyers
have
called flimsy. He is charged with destroying public property and with
gathering a crowd to block traffic. Government officials in Shandong, which
is on
China
's northern coast, have declined to comment on the charges.
Mr. Li said that to ensure that Mr. Chen was defended at the hearing, he
intended to remain near the courthouse in case the trial was suddenly
declared
under way.
Having already issued a formal letter of indictment against Mr. Chen, it
would be unusual for prosecutors to undertake a fresh inquiry into the
charges.
More likely, legal experts working for Mr. Chen said, the local authorities
would prefer to hold the trial at a time when it would attract less
attention
from his domestic supporters and from the international news media, which
have recently carried detailed coverage of the case.
Mr. Chen, blind since childhood, provoked sharp retaliation from Communist
Party leaders in the city of Linyi in Shandong Province after he sought to
organize
a class-action lawsuit on behalf of local peasants who had been forced to
have
abortions
and undergo sterilization operations to help the city meet its quota for
controlling population growth.
He was held under effective house arrest since last August and was formally
arrested only last month.
Mr. Chen has received strong support from legal scholars and defense lawyers
in Beijing and among human rights groups in China and abroad.
But so far, the local authorities seem determined to press ahead with the
criminal case. There are no signs that more senior officials in Beijing are
looking
to intervene to stop the prosecution despite what legal experts say are
glaring legal irregularities.
Overseas rights groups including
Amnesty International
and
Human Rights Watch
have called for Mr. Chen's release on humanitarian grounds.
"When Chen tried to make proper use of China's legal system, the response
wasn't due process," Sophie Richardson, deputy director of Human Rights
Watch's
Asia division, said in a statement. "It was house arrest, physical abuse,
and then disappearance. His case is a textbook example of how little the
rule
of law means in China."
Copyright 2006
The New York Times Company
-------------- next part --------------
Scuffles in China as Trial of Peasants' Rights Advocate Is Postponed - New
York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/?pagewanted=print www.nytimes.com/?pagewanted=print
July 21, 2006
Scuffles in China as Trial of Peasants' Rights Advocate Is Postponed
By
JOSEPH KAHN
BEIJING, July 20 - Chinese officials postponed the criminal trial of a
peasants' rights advocate on Thursday as his supporters gathered in large
numbers
to protest what they say is a politically motivated prosecution.
Some 200 people gathered outside a courthouse in Yinan County, Shandong
Province, where Chen Guangcheng, who is blind and taught himself law, had
been scheduled
to go on trial on charges of destroying property and blocking traffic.
Some supporters scuffled with the police, and participants in the gathering
said 11 people had been detained briefly before the crowd dispersed.
Court officials, who had issued a written notice of the July 20 trial date,
decided at the last minute to postpone the trial. But they issued no written
notice of their decision and did not set a new date, Mr. Chen's lead lawyer,
Li Jinsong, said by telephone.
Court officials told him that prosecutors in the case had requested extra
time to prepare evidence in the case, Mr. Li said.
He said he hoped that the postponement was a sign that prosecutors were
dissatisfied with the evidence gathered against Mr. Chen, which his lawyers
have
called flimsy. He is charged with destroying public property and with
gathering a crowd to block traffic. Government officials in Shandong, which
is on
China
's northern coast, have declined to comment on the charges.
Mr. Li said that to ensure that Mr. Chen was defended at the hearing, he
intended to remain near the courthouse in case the trial was suddenly
declared
under way.
Having already issued a formal letter of indictment against Mr. Chen, it
would be unusual for prosecutors to undertake a fresh inquiry into the
charges.
More likely, legal experts working for Mr. Chen said, the local authorities
would prefer to hold the trial at a time when it would attract less
attention
from his domestic supporters and from the international news media, which
have recently carried detailed coverage of the case.
Mr. Chen, blind since childhood, provoked sharp retaliation from Communist
Party leaders in the city of Linyi in Shandong Province after he sought to
organize
a class-action lawsuit on behalf of local peasants who had been forced to
have
abortions
and undergo sterilization operations to help the city meet its quota for
controlling population growth.
He was held under effective house arrest since last August and was formally
arrested only last month.
Mr. Chen has received strong support from legal scholars and defense lawyers
in Beijing and among human rights groups in China and abroad.
But so far, the local authorities seem determined to press ahead with the
criminal case. There are no signs that more senior officials in Beijing are
looking
to intervene to stop the prosecution despite what legal experts say are
glaring legal irregularities.
Overseas rights groups including
Amnesty International
and
Human Rights Watch
have called for Mr. Chen's release on humanitarian grounds.
"When Chen tried to make proper use of China's legal system, the response
wasn't due process," Sophie Richardson, deputy director of Human Rights
Watch's
Asia division, said in a statement. "It was house arrest, physical abuse,
and then disappearance. His case is a textbook example of how little the
rule
of law means in China."
Copyright 2006
The New York Times Company