China trial of veteran activist Ni Yulan begins

former prosecutor paralyzed as a result of alleged abuse by the police appears in court on charges of fraud through better security

A former lawyer and veteran left disabled by ill-treatment by police has made the trial in Beijing, the third dissident in a week to be treated as China continues its offensive to deter uprisings that shook as the Arab world.

Ni Yulan

lay in bed looking thin and frail, and uses an oxygen machine to help him breathe during the hearing, the daughter of Dong Xuan said. Dong said she told the court about the treatment of his mother by the police since 2002 and how strokes left her paralyzed.

Neither is charged with fraud, accused of falsifying the facts to steal property. She is also accused, with her husband, to cause a disturbance at a hotel where they were arrested by police.

Ni and his followers denied the allegations and say that she is punished for his years of activism, particularly his defense of people forced from their homes to make way for development of property that rapidly re- Olympic Games Beijing 2008. Open his defense earned him the enmity of officials and developers. The family home in an old neighborhood in the center of the capital was removed too, and the couple were left homeless.

In a sign of the sensitivity of the government on the matter, the trial was held amid tight security as tens of uniformed police officers cordoned off and patrolled the streets around the courthouse, journalists arrest and bring to a small office away from the building.

About

few dozen U.S. diplomats, the United Kingdom, Germany and other European countries came to the court and the police moved inside.

not told the court he was not guilty, said his lawyer Cheng Hai, out of court. Cheng spoke briefly while being pushed by journalists by men in civilian clothes who were not identified.

Dong said he was happy to see his parents for the first time in almost nine months were arrested, but his mother was visibly weakened.

• "To see my mother lying in bed, made my heart ache," he said.

Dong said he was not optimistic about the outcome of the trial, citing a long detention of the couple and the heavy security presence in court.

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