China to end jail without trial
In what appears to be a bid to appease the EU, China plans to end imprisonment without trial, reports The Telegraph.
Police are allowed to lock up without trial for up to four years anyone they see as a troublemaker. The re-education through labour policy is often used against dissidents and underground religious movements. A Justice Department official said a new system, to be termed rehabilitation after illegal behaviour, would include a right of appeal to the courts. The accused would also be entitled to a lawyer. Re-education through labour is high on the list of abuses cited by the UN and other critics of China\'s human-rights record. Full report in The Telegraph