BEIJING - One of China's most prominent human rights advocates, who was charged in June for subversion, has been denied access to his lawyers, a move that rights activists say sets the stage for a hasty and covert trial.
Liu Xianbin, 42, was charged with "incitement to subvert state power" for his articles that included his reflections on the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests and this year's Nobel Peace Prize winner Liu Xiaobo's arrest, Liu Xianbin's wife, Chen Mingxian, told Reuters by telephone.
The move to deny Liu Xianbin legal representation comes just as China has come under pressure from the international community for its human rights record, most recently for its harsh punishment of the Nobel laureate.
China, which jailed Liu Xiaobo for 11 years last year for "incitement to subvert state power," has called the Nobel award a "political farce."
Almost one year to the date that the Chinese government jailed Liu Xiaobo, many Chinese dissidents who have been charged in highly sensitive cases involving state secrets or subversion charges have been languishing in legal limbo as it is not unusual for authorities to severely curtail access to lawyers or family members.
One of Liu Xianbin's lawyers, Mo Shaoping, said he had not been allowed to see Liu, who has been held in a detention centre in Suining prefecture in the southwestern province of Sichuan since June 28.
His other lawyer, Ma Xiaopeng, said he last saw Liu on Nov 5, but has since been barred from meeting the dissident, adding that he has tried to call Liu, but no one answered the telephone.
"Under these circumstances, there is no way he can get legal representation," said Mo. "But not giving him access to lawyers is illegal."
Chinese officials in Suining were not immediately available for comment.
Wang Songlian, research coordinator for rights group Chinese Human Rights Defenders, said the move to deny Liu legal access could set the stage for a hasty trial.
Liu's wife said she has not been allowed to see Liu since his arrest and Ma has told her that her letters to Liu have not reached him.
"I didn't think this would happen," Chen said, referring to the authorities barring Liu from legal access. "I thought the legal system in China was just."
Like Liu Xiaobo, Liu Xianbin was a participant in the 1989 protests on Tiananmen Square in Beijing. Liu Xianbin was jailed in 1991 and sentenced to two and a half years in jail in 1992.
Liu Xianbin, a founding member of the China Democracy Party, was convicted of subversion of state power and sentenced to 13 years in jail in 1999. He was released in November 2008 after his jail term was cut for good behaviour.
Liu was a co-signatory of the Charter 08 manifesto that was written by Liu Xiaobo and called for sweeping political reforms.
The petition, which collected thousands of signatures, was one of the boldest challenges to the Chinese Communist Party rule in recent memory.
"His condition was good," Ma said, referring to when he last met with Liu Xianbin. "I told him that Xiaobo had won the Peace Prize and he was very happy. He said Xiaobo's ideas for a democracy movement will now gain worldwide recognition."
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