The nephew of blind activist Chen Guangcheng has been denied his family's choice of lawyers to defend a charge of “intentional homicide” in what one said was an attempt to manipulate a trial that has focused world attention on China's human rights. The decision by police in Yinan in northeastern Shandong province is the latest in a series of moves to deny Chen Kegui legal representation and underscores the hardline stance taken against the family of Chen Guangcheng. Chen Guangcheng's escape from house arrest last month and subsequent refuge in the US embassy caused huge embarrassment for China and led to a diplomatic crisis in Sino-US relations. The ruling Communist Party has always been wary of lawyers, who officials suspect could challenge its power through their advocacy of the rule of law. Authorities have frequently sought to prevent lawyers from taking up politically sensitive cases by suspending their licenses or threatening them. Chen Kegui, in his early 30s, could face the death penalty if found guilty of using knives to fend off local officials who burst into his home on April 27, the day after they discovered his blind uncle had escaped house arrest.
