BEIJING - One of China's most celebrated human rights lawyers will face trial next week over comments he posted online which were critical of the ruling Communist Party, his attorney said on Thursday.
Pu Zhiqiang, who has represented labour camp victims and dissident artist Ai Weiwei, was detained a year and a half ago in a nationwide crackdown on dissent.
He faces a maximum eight year jail sentence on charges of "Inciting ethnic hatred" and "Picking quarrels and provoking trouble", his lawyer Mo Shaoping said.
Beijing's Number Two Intermediate People's Court will consider the evidence - seven posts the lawyer made on a microblog - in a trial Monday, Mo added.
They include messages questioning a state media account of a deadly knife attack blamed on assailants from the mainly Muslim region of Xinjiang, and another accusing Communist Party officials of "Lying".
Baritone-voiced Pu was once celebrated in China's state-run media for seeking compensation for people sent to "Re-education through labour" camps.
The lawyer has been subjected to harsh treatment while in detention, according to a his wife.