Yang Chunlin, an activist who has previously been jailed for subversion, stood opposite the courthouse shouting “Wang Quanzhang is a good person” and “I support Wang Quanzhang” before plainclothes agents wrestled him into a car and sped away. “SHAM TRIAL”Rights group Amnesty International said Wang’s trial was a “cruel charade”. “This is a sham trial in which Wang Quanzhang is being persecuted only for peacefully defending human rights,” said Doriane Lau, China researcher at the group. China often holds high-profile human rights trials over the Christmas holidays, which activists and diplomats say is an attempt to minimize international attention. China’s legal authorities have disbarred over a dozen rights lawyers since a new set of rules with heightened political loyalty requirements for lawyers were introduced in 2016.

Source: bd News24 December 26, 2018 10:07 UTC