Chinese lawyer and human rights activist, Zhai Yanmin, has been tried and sentenced this morning in the city of Tianjin, not far from Beijing. The trial comes after Monday release of a videotape, where Wang Yu, former employee of Mr Yanmin in the Fengrui law firm, has condemned her boss. She said Mr Yanmin has been acting against the Chinese government and cooperating with ‘foreign forces’. Mrs Yu says her former law firm received legal training from foreign groups in Thailand. Critics of Chinese government have questioned the authenticity of the video and claimed that it has been coerced for political and propaganda purposes.

Mrs Yanmin was given a three year suspended prison sentence. The trial although officially called ‘opened’ has been closed to certain media reporters, including BBC Beijing. According to Western press this is a conscious practice, as Chinese authorities are aware of being ‘watched’ by the international community. Mr Yanmin’s story is nevertheless, only one of about 300 lawyers and other activists that have been arrested last year in July. The events from 2015 marked a crackdown that the Chinese authorities have organized against lawyers and activists, blaming them for subversion. In his four years in office President Xi Jiping has shown devotion for containing possible sources of dissidence.

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