ICC Note:
China delayed the trial of a human rights activist who has defended Christians after many showed up in his support at his trial. According to Radio Free Asia, foreign diplomats, family, and other activists showed up at the court on April 25th to support Xie Yang, a renowned who has defended many including Christians. The trial was suddenly canceled and rescheduled. Journalists who attempted to enter the court were stopped and interviewed for more than an hour by authorities. Xie’s case has garnered a lot of attention for the stories of abuse and torture that have emerged from his detention.
4/27/2017 China (Radio Free Asia) – Authorities in the central Chinese province of Hunan have postponed the subversion trial of rights lawyer Xie Yang after his supporters, foreign diplomats, and family members of fellow lawyers showed up to support him on Tuesday.
Xie, who has made a long and detailed report of torture in detention, was due to stand trial at the Changsha Intermediate People’s Court on charges of “incitement to subvert state power” and “disrupting court order.”
Xie’s wife Chen Guiqiu has been resettled in the United States after fleeing China with the couple’s two young daughters to seek political refugee status with the United Nations in Thailand.
The postponement came after dozens of supporters and foreign embassy officials flocked to the court on Tuesday in the hope of witnessing the trial from the public gallery.
But the authorities suddenly announced the trial date had been changed, without giving any reason, and all supporters and would-be observers were ordered to leave, activists at the scene told RFA.
Xu Qin of the China Rights Observer group said there was no police cordon around the court buildings in the Hunan provincial capital Changsha.
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