China bars political dissident access to lawyers

China bars political dissident access to lawyers
Fri Dec 24, 2010 11:03am GMT
By Sui-Lee Wee

BEIJING (Reuters) - One of China's most prominent human rights advocates, who was charged in June for subversion, has been denied access to his lawyers, a move that rights activists say sets the stage for a hasty and covert trial.

Liu Xianbin, 42, was charged with "incitement to subvert state power" for his articles that included his reflections on the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests and this year's Nobel Peace Prize winner Liu Xiaobo's arrest, Liu Xianbin's wife, Chen Mingxian, told Reuters by telephone.

The move to deny Liu Xianbin legal representation comes just as China has come under pressure from the international community for its human rights record, most recently for its harsh punishment of the Nobel laureate.

China, which jailed Liu Xiaobo for 11 years last year for "incitement to subvert state power," has called the Nobel award a "political farce."

Almost one year to the date that the Chinese government jailed Liu Xiaobo, many Chinese dissidents who have been charged in highly sensitive cases involving state secrets or subversion charges have been languishing in legal limbo as it is not unusual for authorities to severely curtail access to lawyers or family members.  FULL STORY
 
Sounds exactly like Family courts, huh?  Twelve years ago Pamela Gaston was referring to family courts as "China courts".  She was right.  The unconstitutional family courts and lack of vigorous defense of the "guilty until proven innocent" are intolerable violations of human rights.