Authorities turn down request for defence lawyer for Ching Cheong
The Beijing state security bureau told the wife of detained journalist Ching Cheong on 17
August that the authorities have turned down her application to engage a lawyer to defend
him against spying charges. Reporters Without Borders is outraged by this refusal and says
it confirms that the Chinese judicial system routinely flouts the most basic rights of
prisoners of conscience. The correspondent of Singapore's Straits Times, Ching has been
detained since April.