Chinese sociologist on trial over state secrets

BEIJING, Aug 16 (Reuters) A Chinese sociologist accused of a crime involving state secrets went on trial behind closed doors today, his wife and a human rights group said, a day after the high-profile trial of a reporter for a Singapore newspaper.

The trial of Lu Jianhua, a sociologist with the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS), a government think tank, opened at the Beijing No 2 Intermediate People's Court and was over in 90 minutes, Hong Kong's Information Centre for Human Rights and Democracy said.

Verdicts in both cases could be delivered tomorrow, the group said.

Lu's wife said she was barred from the trial because her husband was accused of a crime involving state secrets.

''His trial is not open to the public,'' Qu Liqiu told Reuters.

Qu was unaware of the specific charge against her husband, who was detained in Beijing last year and who has decided against hiring a lawyer for unspecified reasons.

Court officials reached by telephone declined to comment.

Qu was also in the dark about the facts behind the case but said they might be related to Ching Cheong, a Hong Kong-based China correspondent for Singapore's Straits Times, who went on trial yesterday accused of espionage -- one of several cases that have highlighted Beijing's harsh controls of the flow of information.

''We are glad that the trial for Ching Cheong is finally over after his detention for more than a year,'' Ching's employer, Singapore Press Holdings, said in a statement.

''We sincerely hope for the best outcome and will continue to assist him and his family in all possible ways.'' Qu said her husband's case was not related to that of Chen Hui, a CASS official jailed for 13 years for selling state secrets to Japan.

About 100 people held a candlelight vigil in Hong Kong on Tuesday urging China to give Ching ''a fair, just and open trial''.

China is the world's leading jailer of journalists, with at least 32 in custody and another 50 Internet campaigners also in prison, press watchdog Reporters Without Borders says.

Zhao Yan, a New York Times researcher accused of providing state secrets to foreigners, remains in detention awaiting a verdict in his case.

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