Leading citizen movement activist Xu Zhiyong arrested

One of China's most prominent human rights activists was taken into custody by police on Tuesday at his home, where he spent the last three months under house arrest.

Xu Zhiyong's detention on charges of having "gathered crowds to disrupt public order" followed a summons delivered earlier on Tuesday. The arrest deals a heavy blow to the New Citizen movement as dozens of fellow activists have also been arrested in the last months. 

The outspoken law lecturer at Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications is the most prominent representative of the movement, which has been calling for government transparency and respect of individual rights guaranteed by the Chinese constitution.

Lawyer Liu Weiguo, who represents Xu, said he would seek to visit the scholar at the No 3 Detention Centre in Beijing on Thursday.

Liu said he rejected the charges against Xu.

"How can a man who has been held under house arrest disrupt public order?" Liu said. "Xu has always been a moderate citizen who has never advocated violence in his writings. He has just availed himself of his right of freedom of speech as an ordinary citizen."