 In July 2010 , a group of Chinese activists including Teng Biao co @-@ signed a letter to the Chinese leadership to protest the 15 @-@ year prison sentence that had been meted out to Uighur journalist Halaite Niyaze . Niyaze was not permitted to have a lawyer at his trial , where he was charged with " endangering state security . " According to reports , Niyaze was being charged because he had criticized the Chinese government in an interview with a Hong Kong news agency for not doing enough to prevent the July 2009 Ürümqi riots . 
