BEIJING - A FORMER factory worker who said human rights were more important than the Olympics has been put on trial in China for subversion, his lawyer said on Wednesday.

Yang Chunlin, whose petition entitled 'We want human rights, not the Olympics' attracted more than 10,000 signatures, was tried on Tuesday for inciting subversion of state power, his lawyer Li Fanping told reporters.

Yang, 52, denies the charges and no verdict was handed down because the court in the city of Jiamusi, in northeast China's Heilongjiang province, said it needed 'the green light from higher authorities' first, Mr Li said.

Human Rights Watch said in a statement that Mr Li, arrested in July last year after denouncing illegal land seizures by officials in the province, had been tried unfairly and denied due process.

'The trial... did not meet minimum standards of fair trial and due process,' the statement said.

The rights group said his case was part of a government attempt to stop activists speaking out ahead of the Aug 8-24 Beijing Olympics.

Mr Yang reportedly told his family that he had been tortured by being shackled to an iron bed for a long period of time while in detention awaiting trial.

Human Rights Watch said it was unable to verify the claim but said the use of so-called shackle boards or 'disciplinary beds' was well-documented in Chinese prisons.

Mr Yang was also refused access to his lawyers for weeks after his arrest and denied adequate time to prepare a defence, it is claimed.

Police were accused of intimidating his relatives and threatening his lawyers prior to the trial.

Public case
The case was originally scheduled to take place behind closed doors but was thrown open to the public because China's ruling communist party feared more bad publicity related to the Olympics, said Nicholas Bequelin, a researcher for Human Rights Watch.

'They clearly got an order from Beijing to give the guy a good trial,' he told reporters.

'But even by the standards of China's criminal justice system, this was not a fair trial.'

After losing his job as a factory worker, Mr Yang tried to help local farmers who had lost their land to developers with the support of corrupt local government officials.

Illegal land grabs are a source of bitter resentment in China and the central government is paying close attention to cases like Mr Yang's, according to Bequelin.

'The government knows there is a tidal wave of cases out there that could sweep away the image of stability they want to project for the Olympics,' he said. -- AFP