And it may have been retaliation because Wang Quanzhang took on a “taboo” case. Since 1999, the Chinese Communist Party has persecuted Falun Gong. Lawyers around the country were instructed not to defend the hundreds of thousands of practitioners who were arbitrarily detained and tortured.
Prominent human rights lawyer Gao Zhisheng was one of the first to take on these cases. He was then persecuted himself, charged with subversion and now sits in a prison in remote Xinjiang.
(http://youtu.be/mXb9zeTSYlM)
Chinese lawyers are outraged after a human rights defense attorney was detained by a court in Jiangsu province on Wednesday Even as Chinese leaders promised to improve the rule of law in the country, legal experts say this latest suppression shows things are only getting worse for legal professionals.
Beijing-based lawyer Wang Quanzhang was representing a Falun Gong practitioner. When the Jingjiang City court adjourned on Tuesday afternoon, he tried to take a photo of the proceedings as evidence. The judge told everyone else to leave the courtroom, and no one has seen Wang since.
Now, more than 130 lawyers have signed a petition telling the court to release him.
[Zhang Zanning, Law Professor, Nanjing University]
“Lawyers uphold the law, and the legal rights of the defendant. If lawyers are suppressed like this, and can be detained at will, then the rights of defendants will not be protected. So I say this represents a systematic decline in the legal system.”
“Lawyers uphold the law, and the legal rights of the defendant. If lawyers are suppressed like this, and can be detained at will, then the rights of defendants will not be protected. So I say this represents a systematic decline in the legal system.”
On Thursday, the court posted this statement on their website. It says Wang will be in detention for 10 days for, “disrupting court order.”
Legal experts say the rules around disrupting court order are vague, and can be abused. Lawyers who have rushed to Jingjiang city to rally for Wang say he did nothing wrong.
[Liu Weiguo, Shandong-based Lawyer]
“If he did anything, the court is meant to have footage of the proceedings, they should make public this footage. We know there were a lot of people in the courtroom. Wang did not say or do anything inappropriate. We think this is a retaliation against the lawyer.”
“If he did anything, the court is meant to have footage of the proceedings, they should make public this footage. We know there were a lot of people in the courtroom. Wang did not say or do anything inappropriate. We think this is a retaliation against the lawyer.”
And it may have been retaliation because Wang Quanzhang took on a “taboo” case. Since 1999, the Chinese Communist Party has persecuted Falun Gong. Lawyers around the country were instructed not to defend the hundreds of thousands of practitioners who were arbitrarily detained and tortured. Prominent human rights lawyer Gao Zhisheng was one of the first to take on these cases. He was then persecuted himself, charged with subversion and now sits in a prison in remote Xinjiang.
Wang Quanzhang’s supporters say local media have not reported about his case. They’re relying on the Twitter-like Sina Weibo to voice their concerns, and posting pictures of their efforts to get Jingjiang officials to release the human rights lawyer.
