Beijing, Dec 30 (ANI): Chinese Human Rights activist Ni Yulan, who has been charged with fraud and accused of making false statements to obtain payment, has pleaded not guilty in a Beijing Court.
Ni, who has become disabled after being beaten by the police in 2002, faces charges of "picking quarrels and making trouble". Her husband Dong Jiqin also faces similar charges.
The couple was detained on April 7, while hanging a banner outside the Beijing guesthouse where they were putting up after the demolition of their house.
Fifty-one-year-old Ni, a former lawyer, has defended people evicted from their homes by the authorities, including those reportedly moved to make way for the 2008 Olympics.
Security was stepped around the Xicheng North District Court in the capital on Thursday, as Ni became the third high-profile dissident to be tried in a week.
She began opposing forced evictions in 2001, advising residents in her neighbourhood whose homes were listed for demolition as Beijing officials remodelled the city for the Olympics.
Ni, who was detained in 2002 while videotaping the demolition of a neighbour's house, suffered a police beating that broke her ankles and kneecaps.
"Seeing my mother lying on that bed, it made my heart ache," The Guardian quoted Ni's daughter Dong Xuan, as saying.
Dong, who is giving evidence on behalf of her month, said she was not optimistic about the outcome of her parents' trial.
"This is definitely not a normal trial procedure, so I feel the risk of conviction is high," she added, while referring to the heavy security at the court. (ANI)
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