Two prominent Chinese defenders of citizens' rights and the rule of law in China were tried for subversion this week in what their relatives say was an opaque legal process designed to hide from the public the plight of human rights defenders. human rights in the country.Xu Zhiyong, a founding figure of the New Citizen Movement, which advocates constitutionalism in China, and Ding Jiaxi, another leading figure in the movement, were tried on Wednesday and Friday, respectively, in eastern China's Linshu county, according to family and supporters.The two were accused of running an illegal organization with the intention of overthrowing the Chinese political system.Actions cited as evidence in an August 2021 indictment included filming an illegal documentary, organizing non-violence training sessions, and holding “secret meetings” in the cities of Yantai and Xiamen.Luo Shengchun, Ding's wife, who now lives in the United States, described the process as taking place in "complete darkness."Lawyers for her husband said they could not provide any more information about the case.Supporters who tried to attend the trial were kicked out of their hotel rooms in the middle of the night.The only thing Luo received was a text message informing him that she was celebrating seeing her."It's getting worse and worse," she said in an interview.“The power of defense attorneys has been reduced to zero, and at every step they must sign a non-disclosure agreement.Even calling this case a state secret has no legal basis, because all they did was set up two private meetings.Yes, they talked about human rights, but that should be allowed by freedom of expression."Neither China's Ministry of Justice nor the court where the trials were held responded to requests for comment.Under Chinese President Xi Jinping's decade-long rule, intolerance of human rights advocacy has grown to the point where even private events can lead to harsh punishments, and these cases, which are often seen as affecting to national security, are increasingly taking place almost entirely behind closed doors.The Chinese Communist Party's renewed control over the legal system also means that lawyers hoping to defend activists must fight for basic rights like meeting with their clients or being able to review case files.Even in 2015, when Chinese law enforcement launched a nationwide crackdown on human rights defenders, detainees were able to reveal some details of the proceedings through their lawyers or relatives, but such defense is no longer possible, Wang Yu said. , a Beijing-based rights lawyer who was detained during that raid.“There is no public attention, their families cannot protest, [and] their lawyers cannot mount a good defense,” he said.“How are they going to deliver a fair verdict in this case?It's just impossible."Before Xi, the Xu-led movement appeared to be gaining limited but significant traction.In 2003, Xu was a rare independent candidate elected to Beijing's Haidian District People's Congress.Over the next decade, his advocacy of equal rights in education and civic participation drew Chinese media attention, and increasing official scrutiny.In 2014, following a campaign asking officials to reveal their wealth, Xu and Ding were jailed on charges of gathering a crowd to disturb public order.At the time, Xu's trial attracted wide attention, including in the Chinese media.Instead, last Wednesday's hearing took place in almost absolute silence.His lawyers, under threat of disqualification, were unable to speak to the press.Requests from other Chinese human rights lawyers for Xu and Ding's trials to be opened to the public were ignored.The court did not make any statement about the hearings.Following his release in 2017, Xu kept a low profile.For a year, he wrote a history of the “citizen movement” and his ideas, which was published on his blog in 24 chapters.Slowly and quietly, he began to meet with other activists.Together with Ding, he arranged two chance meetings, including one in the southern coastal city Xiamen in December 2019.That meeting triggered a nationwide manhunt for Xu and his colleagues.After weeks on the run, Xu was finally captured in February 2020, in the southern city of Guangzhou, where he had been hiding at a friend's house.Adding to the case against Xu is likely a letter he wrote to Xi and published while he was on the run, in which he said that Xi, China's most powerful leader since Mao Zedong, was not "smart enough" to rule and asked him to that he resign“Of course, it's easy for anyone who surrounds themselves with sycophants to develop an inflated sense of self.This is compounded by a system that censors dissenting opinions and only leaves room for fawning approval.There are no voices that dare to disagree,” Xu wrote.As Xi's term lengthens, the crackdown on Chinese lawyers and rights activists has shown no sign of abating.Harsher charges for a similar defense have meant harsher punishments, leaving relatives increasingly concerned about the health of their imprisoned loved ones.These fears are often compounded by continued secrecy, even after the sentences are handed down.One such case is that of anti-discrimination activist Cheng Yuan, who was jailed in 2020 for subversion.Shi Minglei, Cheng's wife, said she fears her skinny husband will not be able to handle the physical labor usual in Chinese prisons."Since he was transferred to a new prison, letters from him stopped and he is not allowed to make phone calls," she said in a telephone interview from his home in the United States.As in the Xu and Ding cases, Shi has been prevented from seeing any of the court documents related to her husband's trial, which are classified as state secrets.“We ask for an explanation, but they always tell us 'there's no reason, they just can't see it.'The entire trial process took place inside a black box.”