Exiled dissident's nephew jailed after 'farcical' trial
Date December 2, 2012
Blind lawyer and activist, Chen Guangcheng. Photo: AP
A CHINESE court has jailed the nephew of the activist Chen Guangcheng for assaulting officials who forced their way into his home after his uncle fled house arrest.
Human rights campaigners and lawyers condemned his conviction after a snap trial on Friday, with one supporter describing the case as a ''judicial farce''.
Chen Kegui's father said a court-appointed lawyer rang at 10am to say his son's trial would begin four hours later at Yinan, Shandong province.
Chen Kegui, the nephew of Chen Guangcheng. Photo: Supplied
He and his wife were not allowed to attend the trial. He said a relative who witnessed the hearing told him his 33-year-old son, pictured, had been sentenced to three years and three months for intentional injury.
Chen Guangcheng fell foul of officials after exposing forced abortions in Shandong, in north-eastern China, and was jailed on charges of ''disrupting traffic and damaging property''. After his release in 2010 his family was placed under tight guard in their village of Dongshigu.
He and his wife were beaten by thugs, their daughter was prevented from going to school, and supporters who tried to visit were assaulted, detained or pelted with stones.
In April Chen escaped to the US embassy in Beijing and is now in the US with his wife and children.
Before his detention Chen Kegui said he had used knives in self-defence when he was assaulted by men who forced their way into the family home after realising his uncle had fled.
Supporters feared a much heavier sentence, but said Chen Kegui should never have been convicted.
