Another Chinese dissident is reported to have gone on trial for inciting subversion.
A Hong Kong-based human rights group said writer Zhu Yufu went on trial today in the eastern city of Hangzhou.
Chinese prosecutors cited a poem and messages sent on Skype as evidence against Zhu, his son and his lawyer said.
The Information Center for Human Rights and Democracy said no verdict was immediately announced.
Zhu is among a group of writers and intellectuals targeted by Chinese authorities in a crackdown aimed at preventing Arab
Spring-style popular uprisings.
Over the last two months, three other dissidents have received nine- and 10-year prison terms for subversion or the related charge of inciting subversion over the last two months.
Chinese courts rarely find in favor of defendants.
"I hope he won't face trouble, but that's a wish," Zhu's wife, Jiang Hangli, told Reuters. "I don't think that they'll let him off lightly."
Compiled from agency reports