How 'New Citizen' trials highlight lack of rule of law on mainland China
New Citizen founder Xu Zhiyong and five others face almost certain prison terms, experts say, as authorities bar key witnesses from testifying
Xu Zhiyong said his dream was that China would be "a country with freedom, justice and love".
"Under democracy and the rule of law, everyone will be freed from oppression, enjoy justice and be able to live in truth", the legal scholar said in a December 2012 interview.
But as Xu and five supporters from his social initiative, the New Citizen movement, prepare for trial this week, their supporters say it looks increasing clear that his vision will not soon materialise.
Legal experts said the activists appeared set for unfair trials and would almost certainly be convicted in a show of determination by the government that any public display of opposition would not be tolerated. If convicted, they could each spend up to five years in prison.
"The expected sentencing of Xu is a message to activists, intellectuals, entrepreneurs and NGOs that there is no place for civil society in Xi Jinping's China unless it walks in lockstep with the party and the government," said Nicholas Bequelin, a senior researcher at Human Rights Watch.
Xu, 40, founded the New Citizen movement in May 2012 to push for social equality and the rule of law, but the drive has been seen by the authorities as a threat to social stability. He was detained in July and formally arrested a month later on the charge of "assembling a crowd to disrupt order in a public place". Prosecutors indicted him last month.
