Beijing human rights lawyer Li Yuxuan was arrested by the authorities in October 2017 and has been detained for more than 3.5 years.
The Brussels-based Council of European Bar Associations (CCBE), which has more than one million members, sent a letter to Chinese Communist Party President Xi Jinping on Friday (26) expressing serious concern about the situation of 709 defense lawyer Li Yuhan, who has been in detention for more than three and a half years, in particular his health, the continuous postponement of his trial and the judge’s forcing him to confess guilt.
The Council of European Lawyers’ Associations is concerned about the alarmingly long pre-trial detention of Li Yuhan, who is understood to have been granted an extension by China’s Supreme Court until May 27 of this year.
Human rights lawyers Lin Qilei and Ji Laisong met with Li Yuxun at the First Detention Center in Shenyang on the 11th of this month. Lin Qilei told the station that Li Yuxun’s conditions of detention have improved somewhat since the case came to international attention, but that his small, overcrowded cell has caused him to suffer from chronic insomnia and poor health.
The fact that the detention center is aware of her, for more than a year or two, has taken care of her, said Lin Qilei. But her physical condition is still not good, like insomnia in that environment, including some diseases can not go outside to see a doctor ah.
The authorities have charged Li Yuxuan with “provoking and provoking trouble” and “fraud” on the grounds that she went to Beijing to petition and apply for low income insurance for her son who has a disability certificate.
Lin Qilei also revealed that Li Yuxuan told them that when she was arraigned by the Shen Yang Peace District Court judge on Jan. 7, she was asked to plead guilty to the charges, which she refused to do, pointing out to the judge that the charges were completely untenable.
The judge arraigned her on January 7 and asked her to plead guilty, but she refused, saying: “You keep asking me to plead guilty, but as a judge, do you think the facts in the indictment constitute a crime, and the judge won’t answer that question later.
Lin Qilei also questioned the authorities to extend the trial indefinitely, Shen Yang Peace District Court can not be in this political case in accordance with the law trial. The authorities are deliberately torturing Li Yuxin by considering that the conditions in the detention center are worse than those in prison.
Li Yuxuan’s brother, Li Yongsheng, thanked the international community for its concern and solidarity with Li Yuxuan in an interview with this station, and he was concerned that his sister, who suffers from heart disease, would not be able to support the long pre-trial detention. He believes this is a framing of Li Yuxin’s proxy case by the authorities.
Li Yongsheng said: “They just want to detain, and they have not been released, and they do not hold court. The authorities have no evidence, and this is indeed a frame-up, an imposition of charges. They are just afraid that these people will seek justice and claim justice.
In a letter to Xi Jinping, the Council of European Lawyers’ Associations noted that Li Yuxin’s detention was triggered by the lawyer’s representation activities. They asked Xi Jinping to take note of the provisions of the UN Basic Principles on the Role of Lawyers that guarantee the functions of lawyers and freedom of expression and association. They asked Xi to make every effort to restore Li Yuxuan’s freedom and to provide her with adequate medical treatment.
The ECBA Council also asked Xi to take all necessary measures to ensure that all Chinese lawyers are able to perform their professional duties without fear of reprisal, hindrance, intimidation or harassment, in order to uphold the rule of law and the independence and integrity of the judiciary.
The letter states that Li Yuxuan’s health condition will deteriorate in 2017, 2019 and 2020. Reports indicate that Lee’s conditions of detention and physical health have not yet improved.
Li, 63, was awarded the 2020 German-French Human Rights and Rule of Law Award earlier this year. She has handled human rights cases, including those involving religious persecution and advocating for government disclosure of information, and was the defender of 709 lawyer Wang Yu after the “709 arrests” in 2015; in October 2017, Li was arrested by public security officials in her hometown of Shenyang. In October 2017, Li was arrested by the police in his hometown of Shenyang, and it is widely believed that his representation of Wang Yu was retaliated by the authorities.
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