Army singer's son gang rape trial begins

Meng Ge, the mother of 17-year-old gang rape suspect surnamed Li, arrives at Beijing Haidian District People's Court, Aug 28, 2013. Li, the son of well-known People's Liberation Army (PLA) singer Li Shuangjiang and Meng Ge, went on trial on Wednesday along with five men accused of sexually assaulting a woman in a Beijing hotel in February. [Photo/Asianewsphoto]

BEIJING - The teenage son of a renowned Chinese tenor, who was allegedly involved in a gang-rape case, stood trial in a Beijing district court on Wednesday.

Five men were detained on February 20 after a woman surnamed Yang reported to the police that she was taken to a hotel and gang-raped after drinking with the men in a bar on February 17.

Police insiders, who refused to be named, said that the son of Li Shuangjiang, dean of the music department of the People's Liberation Army Academy of Arts, is among the five suspects.

The Beijing Haidian District People's Procuratorate filed rape charges against the five suspects on July 8.

During two meetings held before the trial, lawyers of the five suspects and the victim disagreed on whether it was a gang-rape or prostitution case.

Junior Li's mother, Meng Ge, arrived at the court at 9:10 a.m. on Wednesday but did not receive questions from journalists.

She had applied to make the trial a public hearing, but her application was overruled by the court.

Because the case involves juveniles, whose privacy is protected by law, the trial will be heard in private sessions, the court said.

Tian Canjun, lawyer of the victim, told Xinhua earlier that Yang is under great psychological stress and has been hospitalized. She will not participate in the trial.

Li Shuangjiang, 74, built his reputation in past decades by singing popular patriotic songs.

It is not the first time that the younger Li has been in trouble.

The 17-year-old and another teenager attacked a couple who allegedly blocked their driveway near the entrance of a residential community in Beijing two years ago. He was later sent to a government correctional facility for one year.