Update | Messages of support appear online for dissidents tried for seeking greater official accountability

Activists and internet users yesterday expressed sympathy and support for venture capitalist Wang Gongquan and prominent rights advocate Xu Zhiyong after authorities announced that Wang, detained for months for organising protests, confessed he had erred in aiding Xu's social campaigns.

According to a microblog post from the Beijing No 1 Intermediate Court late on Wednesday, the day when Xu went on trial there, Wang admitted that he and Xu had "organised and incited criminal activities to assemble a crowd to disrupt order in a public place" and was released on bail.

Xu and six other activists from his New Citizen movement are being tried this week and next on charges of "assembling a crowd to disrupt order in a public place". Supporters say this is the government's way to show its determination to crush the social initiative that last year called on officials to disclose their assets. Wang has been detained since September.

Yesterday, the trial of one of the dissidents, Zhao Changqing, was adjourned after he complained of flawed legal procedures that gave him little chance of a fair trial, his lawyer Zhang Xuezhong said. He "sacked" Zhang in a tactical move that would prevent a hasty trial before Lunar New Year.

Another activist, Hou Xin, one of four who unfurled a banner in Beijing last March demanding that officials declare their assets, also stood trial yesterday and told the court she was innocent because she was merely exercising her civil rights, her lawyer Ding Xikui said.

Xu, 40, refused to offer a defence in court on Wednesday in protest against the court barring witnesses and co-defendants from testifying. But his lawyer said he gave a speech in which he accused the government of "obstructing China's path to democracy and constitutional rule" by cracking down on his movement.