All Girls Allowed: The nephew of the Chinese activist Chen Guangcheng has been charged with voluntary manslaughter, amid growing concerns about reprisals and intimidation of lawyers. The arrest comes as a senior lawyer defending Chen described to the Guardian how he lost his hearing in a beating by a senior state security official after he tried to visit his client in hospital last week.
The activist's nephew Chen Kegui faces a sentence ranging from 10 years in prison to the death penalty after he brandished a meat cleaver at intruders who burst into his home in Linyi, Shandong province, during the search for his uncle. Lawyers say he acted in self-defence and only wounded the intruders, but his legal team have come under intense pressure from the local authorities to drop what looks set to become one of China's most politicised criminal cases in recent years.
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