Chinese human rights defender and internet activist Du Doubin on trial in closed proceeding

Front Line has received reports from Human Rights in China (HRIC) that the Internet activist Du Daobin is going on trial on May 18 2004 in closed proceedings, and without the benefit of his chosen defense counsel.

According to sources in China, although Du Daobin’s lawyer, Mo Shaoping, had presented the court with his schedule of commitments, he was notified just three days ago to present his defense statement on Du’s behalf at the Intermediate People’s Court in Xiaogan City, Hubei Province. Mo was unable to rearrange his other commitments on such short notice, and so will not be able to appear at the trial. Mo has had no option but to file his written statement with the court, depriving Du of effective oral argument and significantly weakening his defense.

Du Daobin, 39, originally a civil servant, became one of China’s most active Internet essayists, expressing criticism of the Chinese government on a number of issues. He was first detained on October 28, 2003 on accusations of incitement to subvert state power. In early February the Xiaogan municipal procuratorate referred Du’s case back to the public security bureau on the grounds of insufficient evidence. However, the PSB produced the text of a speech Du Daobin once gave at Huazhong Normal College, after which the Xiaogan procuratorate on April 21 formally indicted Du Daobin on subversion charges. China’s most active campaigner for the release of student Internet activist Liu Di, Du Daobin himself has now become the subject of a number of petitions inside and outside of China. In early February more than 100 Chinese intellectuals signed an Internet petition calling for Du’s release, and demanding official clarification of exactly what activities constitute “incitement to subvert state power.”