Guangcheng lost his sight after a childhood illness and did not attend school until he was 18. When he did go to school, he encountered legal problems.

The Chinese government exempts blind citizens from taxes and fees. But Chen Guangcheng often did not receive such benefits. Determined to realise his legal rights, he studied law on his own, recruiting his four older brothers to read legal texts to him.

In 1994, he went to Beijing to protest against violations of laws protecting the disabled people. While there, he took action against the Beijing subway authority because attendants would not let him ride for free.

Surely, Chen became a popular legal crusader. He helped other people with disabilities to avoid illegal fees and taxes. He forced a paper mill to stop spewing toxic chemicals into his village's river. Thus, making him a local hero.

So when residents of his home village of Dongshigu (China) were ensnared in a coercive birth control campaign last spring that appeared to violate national laws, they turned to Chen.

Supporters of Chen said that the local authorities had long intended to take legal action against him but that they had been stymied by the fact that he had not committed any crime. By June they at last announced the grounds for his arrest: destroying property and blocking traffic.

Such charges might appear easy enough to contest in court. But Chen's lawyers face formidable obstacles. "We can hardly have high expectations of a fair trial," said Teng, the legal scholar, "when criminals are in charge of the law."