Beijing, trial begins of two more anti-corruption activists
Beijing ( AsiaNews / Agencies) - The trial against Ding Jiaxi and Li Wei
opened this morning in Haidian District Court in Beijing. The two members of
the New Citizens Movement are charged with having summoned a mob to disturb public order". The activists have been engaged in a public
campaign to ask China's leaders to disclose their assets. The
Movement's leader, Xu Zhiyong, was
sentenced in January 2014 to 4 years in jail, other members of the
group are in police custody.
The
trial against Ding and Li was supposed to have begun three months ago, but both
rejected the court appointed defense lawyers to stay procedures. Several
police cordons were deployed before Court to prevent access to the public (see
photo) : Journalists were not allowed inside and the supporters of the two
prisoners were removed by police.
Li's
lawyer Yuanmin Jiang said his client has not committed any crime: "People like Ding Jiaxi and Li Wei, they just
want government officials to report their assets," he said. "This
goes against the interests of a vast majority of officials. So the government is
afraid".
The
long series of trials against members of the Movement shows that the
anti-corruption campaign launched by President Xi Jinping will not involve the
population but remain a mere tool in the hands of the Party and the government.
Several
civil rights groups have criticized the national leader for this repression, which
- they say - "demonstrates that the
government still will not tolerate any form of organized opposition".
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