Secret and silent trial for Xu Zhiyong, who called for an end to Party corruption
Beijing ( AsiaNews) - The activist Xu Zhiyong, who has been fighting against corruption in Chinese society and asked members of the Party to disclose their assests, will be tried on January 22. In reality the trial will be held in secret: they journalists and observers are not allowed Xu'sthe family have been allocated only two seats.
Xu has promised to remain silent
for the duration of the trial, to protest against the denial of his right to a
proper defense: none of the witnesses that he listed have been called to
testify for the defense.
Xu
Zhiyong is the founder of the New Citizens movement which promotes the rule of
law and human rights. Last
July, he was arrested for having asked the leaders of the state government to
publically disclose their assests, in all likelihood the result of corruption.
Last month he was accused of
having planned and led at least five protests in China demanding transparency
regarding the assets of Party leaders.
A
Professor of law at Beijing Post University, Xu also fought for the children of
migrants to have the same rights as residents in the city particularly with
regard to education and healthcare .
The
fight against corruption - in which Xu is engaged - is one of the slogans of
the President Xi Jinping, who has vowed to pursue " tigers " and
" flies " , prominent leaders and bureaucrats guilty of accepting bribes,
kickbacks or over spending. Curiously,
however, the Party that wants to correct itself, does not accept criticism from
civil society. According
to observers, the fight against corruption - a slogan for each season of
leadership - is only used as an excuse to eliminate opponents.
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