CARACAS (AP) ― A top leader of the antigovernment protests that wracked Venezuela for months this spring is getting his day in court.

Opposition firebrand Leopoldo Lopez went on trial Wednesday charged with inciting violence at early demonstrations.

Lopez was arrested in February after he spoke at a rally that later turned violent. The antigovernment demonstration marked the start of three months of deadly street protests.

Lopez has remained in a jail cell while the protest movement has mostly died down and opposition leaders have begun to fight among themselves. But he has become a cause celebre for critics of Venezuela’s socialist government.

Riot police and National Guard troops were out Wednesday blocking access to the court where Lopez’s trial was scheduled.

If convicted, the Harvard University-educated Lopez could face years in prison.

In recent months, several opposition leaders have been targeted in Venezuela’s courts, including former lawmaker Maria Corina Machado, who was also involved in the February protests and has been barred from leaving the country.