BEIJING: One of China’s most prominent human rights lawyers is due to stand trial Monday for comments on social media that were critical of the ruling Communist Party in a case that international rights groups say is political persecution.

Pu Zhiqiang, who took on cases relating to civil rights and freedom of speech, has been detained for more than a year and a half. He has been indicted on charges of inciting ethnic hatred and picking quarrels to stir up trouble.

Since coming to power in 2013, President Xi Jinping has spearheaded crackdowns on civil activists, rights lawyers and online freedom. Critics say these are aimed at snuffing out any potential threats to the party’s grip on power.

The charges against Pu relate to a number of posts on China’s Twitter-like Sina Weibo that questioned the ruling Communist Party’s policies toward the Tibetan and Uighur (pronounced WEE-gur) ethnic minorities in the Tibet and Xinjiang regions, and mocked political figures.