Dissident Denied Lawyer, Chinese Group Alleges

A Chinese dissident detained nearly seven weeks ago has been formally charged and barred from seeing his lawyer, a group of exiled democracy campaigners said Friday.

Although Chen Zengxiang’s family hired a lawyer at the direction of authorities, he has not been allowed to see Chen because police said the case “touched on state secrets,” the New York-based Chinese Democratic Justice Party said.

The Hong Kong-based Information Center of Human Rights and Democratic Movement in China said Chen faced charges of plotting to subvert the government.

Chen was detained May 23 in the eastern port city of Qingdao in a roundup of dissidents before the anniversary of the Chinese military’s June 1989 crackdown on pro-democracy demonstrators in Beijing’s Tiananmen Square.