Lawyers of Asset Transparency Advocates Reveal Details of Pre-Trial Meeting

Observations posted on Lawyer Pang Kun’s blog from the October 14 pre-trial meeting for his client, Li Sihua (李思华), and two other asset transparency advocates, Liu Ping (刘萍) and Wei Zhongping (魏忠平), which took place at No. 3 Yushui District People's Court in Xinyu, Jiangxi Province.  The three defendants were indicted on July 2 on the charge of “illegal assembly” after calling for public disclosure of officials’ assets and the release of political prisoners on April 21. On September 23, two new charges were added against Liu and Wei. The trial notes reveal that the lawyers asked the court to explain why it had not tried and closed the case within three months after accepting it on July 2, and the legal basis for recalculating the trial deadline, especially in the case of Li, who did not face any new charges. The lawyers also explain that their request for recusal based on article 28 of the Criminal Procedure Law was rejected by the presiding judges for “not complying with the legal provisions.” (English summary of the observations coming soon.)