Chinese cyber-dissident Huang Qi on trial

Online activist and journalist Huang Qi went on trial in Mianyang, Sichuan, facing charges from November 2016 of leaking state secrets. No verdict has yet been reported concerning the last-minute trial. His early work on finding missing persons was lauded by the Chinese government, but later work published on the site 64tianwang.com (in Chinese) and his reporting on alleged government officials’ wrongdoing have resulted in at least two previous detentions since 2009.

Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and Freedom House, along with 11 other organisations released a statement last November reporting that Huang Qi could die in police custody if he does not receive medical treatment for high blood pressure and late-stage kidney disease.