Human rights activist Huang Qi was to be tried by a Chinese court for illegal possession of state secrets after he came to the aid of parents whose children died in last year’s earthquake. His wife Zeng Li stated that the court in the provincial capital Chengdu had informed her that Huang Qi would be tried on a state security charge, which carries a sentence of up to three years in prison.

“They didn’t say what specifically he was accused of and they have not allowed him or the lawyers to see any documents or evidence,” she commented. “It was because of the earthquake and putting out statements on behalf of the families and helping them with advice.”

Huang’s defence team had not been told the charges or the trial date, said Mo Shaoping, one of his lawyers. China specialists at Human Rights Watch suggested that lawyers and even judges are not allowed to see the documents in question or challenge their classification.  “There’s no real avenue to challenge the validity of whatever authorities classify as a state secret,” said Nicholas Bequelin of Human Rights Watch. “My understanding is that the case against Huang has no validity. He was arrested because he tried to hold officials accountable for specific schools that collapsed.”

A court official stated that he did not know about the case and would not answer questions from foreign media. Chinese authorities have clamped down on public discussion of earthquake victims, many of whom were pupils who died when their schools collapsed. In Sichuan, protesting parents have been harassed and detained.

The disaster claimed up to 90,000 lives last year. The chair of the committee investigating the earthquake has acknowledged that poor quality building may have played a part in the deaths of many children.

Huang, well-known for helping ordinary people defend their rights, was previously imprisoned for two years due to his banned Tianwang website on the grounds of inciting subversion. The site was founded to reunite families with missing people, and attracted posts from others on sensitive issues such as Tiananmen Square. This site is now hosted overseas, but is blocked in China.