Accused online rumormonger on trial

A still image shows a police officer escorting  Qin Zhihui, right, in this screen grab from CCTV on Aug 21, 2013. [Photo/icpress.cn]

The trial of Qin Zhihui, 30, accused of using the Internet to spread rumors, began in a Beijing court at 9 am on Friday.

Qin, better known by his online name, Qin Huohuo, was charged with fabricating 3,000 rumors in three years.

Last year, Beijing police smashed a company that allegedly made and spread fake information on websites for profit, and arrested Qin Zhihui and Yang Xiuyu, who in August were accused of fabricating online rumors and harming others' reputations, the Beijing Chaoyang District People's Court said in a statement on April 8.

Prosecutors accuse Qin of saying on his micro blog that the government had paid 200 million yuan ($32.3 million) in compensation to a foreign passenger after two trains collided in Wenzhou, Zhejiang province, in July 2011.

The report was later refuted by police, the statement said.

Prosecutors accused Qin of slander and causing disturbances, the statement added.