Yang Jianli, the pro-democracy activist imprisoned by the Chinese government on undisclosed charges more than a year ago, was indicted last week on counts which could result in a life sentence, his wife and her lawyer said. The indictment was followed this Wednesday by the Senate Foreign Relations Committee’s unanimous approval of a resolution calling for Yang’s release.

Yang, a graduate of the Kennedy School of Government, was seized in April 2002 after entering China using another person’s passport. His trial on charges of espionage and visa violations is expected to start by the first week of August.

Christina X. Fu, Yang’s wife, said the trial would be closed to the public, and she expressed concerns about its procedures.

“It doesn’t look like there will be any witnesses,” she said.

Jared Genser, Fu’s attorney, said the trial’s participants were ostensibly limited to three judges, two prosecutors and a court recorder in addition to Yang and his lawyer, Mo Shaoping. But Genser suspected the courtroom would have more than eight people in attendance.

“I’m sure there will be observers from the Chinese government,” he said.

And though he intended to ask the U.S. government to request an American observer at Yang’s trial, Genser said he thought the chances of that were slim.

Genser and Fu singled out the charge of espionage—based on misdeeds Yang allegedly committed more than a decade ago—as entirely unfounded, and said it had come as a complete surprise.

“He didn’t expect espionage at all,” Fu said.

Among the infractions alleged in the indictment, Genser said, were working as an agent of a Taiwanese group to disseminate pro-democracy messages in China and distributing a total of $400 for purposes including papaya-farming.

“Even if you accept them on face value as being true, it’s just not the kind of thing anyone would see as rising to the level of espionage,” Genser said. “It’s the work of a pro-democracy activist.”

Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass., who has been active in governmental efforts on Yang’s behalf, said he thought a problem with definitions might have led the Chinese government to level such a serious charge.

“They may have a somewhat different view of espionage than we do—an exchange of information,” Frank said.

Alternately, suggested Frank, the espionage charge might have resulted from belated Chinese attempts to maintain a semblance of fairness in Yang’s treatment.

“Something more than simply crossing the border may be necessary to justify having held him this long,” he said.