China: land rights defender tried over social media activity
Event- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Oct 1, 2020
- Event Description
Activist Meng Xiaodong (孟晓东) stood trial at Sui County Court in Shangqiu City on charges of “picking quarrels ” and “obstruction of credit card management” on October 1. The prosecution also accused him of “insulting others” on Twitter for his comments about former state leader Mao Zedong. He pled not guilty and his lawyers defended his innocence. No members of the public were allowed into the courthouse. The hearing ended without a verdict being pronounced. Since 2010, Meng has been active in defending local farmers’ land rights. On September 6, 2019, police from Sui County took Meng away from his home, first detaining him on suspicion of “picking quarrels” and later adding the allegations of “obstruction of credit card management” and “insulting others” on Twitter.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Denial Fair Trial
- Enactment of repressive legislation and policies
- Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Online
- Right to fair trial
- Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Land rights defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Event Location
Latitude: 34.42667974738981
Longitude: 115.64538498007022
- Event Location
- Summary for Publications
On 1 October 2020, Meng Xiaodong, land rights defender, was tried on vague charges for criticising Mao Zedong via social media by a court in Shangqiu, China.