Human Rights Lawyer Who Challenged China’s Xi Has Secret Trial

  • Xu Zhiyong, Ding Jiaxi go on trial this week: latter’s wife
  • China has targeted human rights lawyers who challenge state
A placard with a photo of Xu Zhiyong is raised by a demonstrator outside the Chinese liaison office in Hong Kong in 2014.Photographer: Vincent Yu/AP Photo
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China held a secret trial for a human rights lawyer who called for President Xi Jinping to resign, as the ruling Communist Party continues to crush voices of dissent.

Xu Zhiyong, who has already spent more than two years in jail, had a closed trial Wednesday at Linshu County Court in eastern Shandong province, according to Luo Shengchun, the wife of a fellow lawyer, Ding Jiaxi, who was arrested around the same time. No verdict was given. Ding will take the stand Friday at the same court in the same conditions, Luo added.