The founder of a grassroots movement to boost accountability for Chinese officials has gone on trial on charges of disrupting public order.
But Xu Zhiyong didn't utter a word during the six-hour, closed-door proceedings to protest what he considers an unjust case.
The trial of the legal scholar and New Citizens founder reflects the determination of the government led by Xi Jinping to quash the loosely knit activists before they can challenge Communist Party rule, even though their goals largely overlap with the party's stated drive to root out corruption and build a fairer society.
The same court later announced it had granted bail to a well-known venture capitalist who supports the New Citizens group, Wang Gongquan, who had been detained since September.
The court did not set a date for Xu's verdict.
Xu's lawyer, Zhang Qingfang, said a conviction is almost certain, and that prosecutors suggested five years in prison, the maximum sentence for the crime of gathering crowds to disrupt order in a public place.
Both Xu and his lawyers stayed silent in court.
"When the court becomes a venue of persecution, nonco-operation becomes an obligation," Beijing-based political commentator and columnist Mo Zhixu said on Wednesday.
Xu has participated in small public rallies that, among other issues, have called for officials to declare their assets as a way of curbing graft - something party leaders have expressed a willingness to consider but have resisted while pushing a high-profile corruption crackdown.
The proceedings opened the same day that a US-based journalist group released a report linking relatives of Xi and other political leaders to offshore tax havens, renewing allegations that the Communist elite has benefited from China's economic boom and hidden the proceeds overseas.
Wang, the New Citizens group supporter, was given bail after admitting his guilt, the Beijing No.1 Intermediate People's Court said on its microblog.
It said Wang admitted having worked with Xu in planning and inciting the gathering of crowds to disrupt order in public places, and that Wang had expressed deep remorse.
His trial is pending.
Friends and supporters say they believe Wang was coerced into confessing by authorities. It is unusual for a court to grant bail after a confession.
Since April 2013, authorities have detained about 17 people linked to the New Citizens movement, putting three of them on trial in the southeastern province of Jiangxi in late 2013.
No verdict has been issued in the Jiangxi trials.
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