The United States on Friday blasted Chinese authorities for the jailing of the nephew of blind lawyer Chen Guangcheng, saying he was the victim of a “deeply flawed legal process.”
After Chen -- who was jailed for years after exposing abuses under China’s “one child” population control policy -- fled house arrest in Shandong province in April, government officials and police descended on his home village.
The family says his nephew Chen Kegui used a kitchen knife to defend himself when authorities barged into his home in the middle of the night uninvited. Three people were wounded. He was jailed for more than three years Friday.
“We are deeply disturbed about reports that Chen Kegui, the nephew of human rights advocate Chen Guangcheng, was tried and convicted today in a legal proceeding in China that lacked basic due process guarantees,” State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland told reporters.
“He was convicted in a summary trial in which he was not fully represented by legal counsel of his choosing. He didn’t have an opportunity to present his own defence. So this was a deeply flawed legal process.”
Nuland said Chen Kegui’s parents had been refused visits with their sons, and that his court-appointed lawyer did not provide the family with any information about the case. Attorneys who tried to represent Chen Kegui were threatened with losing their licenses if they were to proceed, she said.