BEIJING, Jan. 3 (UPI) -- A disbarred Chinese human rights lawyer and her husband were tried last week on charges including fraud, with their family and supporters barred from court.
Their lawyer said Ni Yulan and Dong Jiquin were charged with "picking quarrels," The New York Times reported. Cheng Hai said he was not able to present most of his witnesses.
"I'm afraid the sentence this time will be especially heavy," Cheng said.
Ni has been at odds with the government since 2002, when she represented residents of the Xicheng neighborhood fighting eviction to make way for facilities for the Beijing Olympics. She spent 75 days in confinement then and was subsequently sentenced to three years.
Injuries inflicted under questioning have left her so frail she appeared in court Thursday lying on a bed, the Times said.
Ni is also accused of fraud for continuing to dispense legal advice after she was disbarred.
She and her husband camped in a park after her release in 2010, because authorities had made it impossible for them to find housing. That became so embarrassing to the authorities the two were moved into a hotel room, the newspaper said.
