China’s first ‘cyberdissident’ faces trial

BEIJING: China’s first ‘cyberdissident’, whose website reported on sensitive topics including human rights, is expected to go on trial yesterday amid fears he is in bad health, sources familiar with the matter told AFP.

Huang Qi was arrested in 2016 for ‘leaking state secrets’ and has since been held at the Mianyang Detention Centre in southwestern Sichuan province – his home region – without a trial date.

Calls to the Mianyang Mianyang Intermediate People’s Court, which is handling the case, went unanswered.

“American diplomats attempted to attend Huang Qi’s trial but were denied access to the courtroom,” a US embassy spokesperson told AFP.

Several activists who said they were travelling to Mianyang to attend the trial sent photos and videos to AFP showing police stopping them en route yesterday.

Huang ran a website called ‘64 Tianwang’ – named after the bloody June 4, 1989 crackdown on Tiananmen Square prodemocracy protesters. The site, which has reported on local corruption, human rights violations, and other topics rarely seen in ordinary Chinese media, is blocked on the mainland.

A volunteer at ‘64 Tianwang’ told AFP that he was taken away ‘on holiday’ Saturday by Sichuan police, who cited the cyberdissident’s trial that was due to start this week.

“I am worried (for his safety),” the volunteer said on condition of anonymity. “But Huangqi is very proud, he won’t surrender.”

The volunteer was told he would be released once the trial was over. — AFP