Local authorities in Yueqing, Zhejiang Province, said journalists, lawyers and ordinary people will be allowed to observe the trial concerning the controversial Christmas Day killing of Qian Yunhui, a village chief who petitioned authorities about land acquisition.

Many villagers believe Qian was intentionally murdered because of his activism but authorities say he died during a traffic accident.

The local government said in a notice posted on its official microblog that members of the public could exercise their right to monitor the government.

Fei Liangyu, the driver who struck Qian, will face trial for a traffic accident crime, a charge that was approved by the local procuratorate, China News Service reported Tuesday.

News of the arrest and charge came Tuesday after hundreds of villagers clashed with authorities at a major intersection between the towns of Hongqiao and Puqi Saturday.

Police earlier said Qian's death was merely the result of a tragic traffic accident, but some villagers suggested that Qian was murdered because his petitions angered authorities.

Several groups comprised of lawyers, scholars and activists went to Yueqing to look into the facts of Qian's death.

Two groups headed respectively by Xu Zhiyong, a rights advocate and Wang Xiaoshan, an Internet user, traveled to Yueqing on December 30. Another group is headed by Yu Jianrong, a professor at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.

Xu claimed that Qian's death was indeed the result of a normal traffic accident.

Wang Xiaoshan also claimed Saturday that he did not find any evidence that proved Qian was murdered and he has already departed Yueqing.

"I'm just an onlooker instead of an investigator," Wang told the Global Times Tuesday.

Many Internet users expressed dissatisfaction over the claims of both Xu and Wang.

Yu left Yueqing Monday and said in his microblog that he could not make a judgment about whether Qian was murdered without any key evidence or witnesses.

Calls to the Wenzhou government went unanswered.