Activist Charged With Inciting Subversion

By EDWARD CODY, The Washington Post
March 19, 2008

BEIJING — Hu Jia, a human rights activist and commentator, was tried in a Beijing court yesterday on charges of inciting subversion against the Chinese government through his writings on the Internet.

Mr. Hu's lawyer, Li Fangping, said the Beijing No. 1 Intermediate Court would likely hand down its sentence in about a week. Mr. Hu, 34, who faces up to five years in prison, pleaded not guilty.

Mr. Li complained he was given only 20 minutes to defend Mr. Hu, which he said was not enough time to mount a persuasive case. "When the prosecutor spoke, the judge let him finish," Mr. Li said. "But when I spoke, the judge stopped me and said time was short."

Mr. Hu was detained December 27 in what was seen as part of a crackdown by Chinese censors to rid the Internet of dissidents in the lead-up to the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing this August. Formal charges were filed a month later. His wife, Zeng Jinyan, and their infant daughter, Qianci, were restricted from leaving Mr. Hu's Beijing apartment.