BEIJING: A trial of three activists accused of inciting the overthrow of China’s government was halted Friday when the defendants dismissed their attorneys to prevent it from proceeding, a lawyer and a family member said.
The move came after the court rejected defense requests that no ruling Communist Party members should be on the bench and that witnesses should be allowed to testify in court, defense lawyer Zhang Xuezhong said.
The Guangzhou Intermediate People’s Court in the southern city of Guangzhou declined to confirm to The Associated Press whether the trial was held.
The defendants, Tang Jingling, Yuan Xinting and Wang Qingying, are accused of inciting the state’s overthrow, largely because of their advocacy of non-violent resistance to the authoritarian government and calls to remember victims of state repression, including people killed in a 1989 crackdown on pro-democracy demonstrations in Beijing, Zhang said.
Trial of Chinese activists halted
Trial of Chinese activists halted
