2/1/2008 12:42:10 PM Prominent Chinese civil rights activist Hu Jia was charged with “inciting subversion of state power” one month after he was arrested from his home in east Beijing, media reports said.
Human rights groups claimed his arrest is part of crackdown on dissent in the run-up to the Beijing Olympic Games.
One of the most outspoken critics of China's human rights violations, Hu Jia faces a possible lengthy jail term as government accused him of “challenging the rule of the Communist Party through articles posted on his website.”
Although Hu has been in custody since December 27, his arrest was formally announced only after one month. Hu's wife, Zeng Jinyan, and his two-month old child are under house arrest.
The Guardian quoted Hu's lawyer Li Jinsong as saying that he believed the case was connected to the Olympic games, but he could not confirm this until he had been allowed to see the charge documents.
Hu, who used Internet blogs, web casts, and video to expose Chinese government's human rights abuses, has been denied access to legal representation and his trial will be held in secret.
The pre-Olympic crackdown on dissidents has already cast a cloud over Beijing's Olympic preparations. The European Union and the U.S. government have called for Hu's release, and human rights groups have vowed to make him a symbol of China's human rights abuses.
Source: http://www.rttnews.com/apps/deskalert/article.asp?date=02/01/2008&item=713 
