The Chinese Communist Party announced the implementation of judicial rectification, and again made human rights lawyers the target of suppression. Pictured are some of the lawyers representing the 12 Hong Kong people case, second from left is Lu Tingge and third from left is Lu Siwei. (Courtesy of lawyers)
Recently, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) announced the implementation of judicial rectification, but ignored the corruption and chaos in the judicial sector and made human rights lawyers the target of suppression. Outsiders believe this phenomenon is a true reflection of the CCP’s view of politics as a priority and human rights as a zero.
Recently, four persecuted Chinese human rights lawyers were interviewed by the Epoch Times, and they told us about the CCP’s poor tactics to retaliate and suppress human rights lawyers under the pretext of judicial rectification. Several of them have defended the innocence of Falun Gong practitioners who believe in “truth, goodness and tolerance. The other three lawyers, Ren Quanniu, Lu Siwei, and Lu Tingge, have also defended the “12 Hong Kong people case”. In August last year, 12 Hong Kong people tried to flee to Taiwan, but were intercepted by the Chinese Communist Party’s maritime police and detained in Shenzhen, where they were sentenced to prison.
The CCP persecutes human rights lawyers by beating them, revoking their licenses, canceling their law firms, and banning them from traveling abroad for interviews and studies.
Lawyer Ren Quanniu: The Chinese Communist Party Starts with Human Rights Lawyers
In the midst of the CCP’s high-profile “judicial reorganization,” Ren Quanniu believes that human rights lawyers are the first to be targeted for defending, fighting, or pursuing human rights. He cited the “stupidity” of the Chinese government at all levels in doing so.
“The people in power now, including those under him, feel they are particularly confident.” He said, “The so-called taking over Hong Kong, tossing the world with the epidemic, there is nothing they (the CCP) can do, they are ‘inflated’ and they can do whatever they want.”
He said that in the eyes of the Chinese Communist Party, “as long as these lawyers are taken off, their mouths are covered, or they are extinguished, the whole society will be harmonized and silenced.” “Not only will the lawyers’ licenses be revoked, but also the law firms will be exterminated. Next, there will certainly be a variety of punishment to suppress (the situation) surfaced.”
Ren Quanniu is one of the three legal partners of Henan Orbit Law Firm. He has represented Shanghai Zhang Zhan, a citizen journalist who reported on the Wuhan epidemic, in the so-called “provocation and nuisance” case.
On February 2, Ren Quanniu had his lawyer’s license revoked by the Henan Provincial Department of Justice on the pretext that he had violated lawyer norms by representing a group of Falun Gong believers in a not guilty plea in 2018. The Henan Orbit Law Firm faces forced and illegal dissolution. This is because it is stipulated that law firms must have three legal persons, and the firm is currently never allowed to add legal persons.
Lawyer Lu Tingge: Defending rights according to the law is the main reason for being suppressed
Lu Tingge believes that the CCP’s treatment of human rights lawyers is “not on the table at all” and that “we human rights lawyers are actually defending the rights of our clients according to the strict provisions of the law.
He said the reason for the crackdown is “because we follow the law, not what they (the Judicial Bureau, the Law Society, or even the Public Security Bureau) want us to do.” “Because doing what they mean would violate our professional rights, and their demands are all illegal.”
He once proposed to submit the so-called requirements to the lawyers in the form of “official documents”, but, so far, he has not seen them. “They dare not take it out, many kinds of requirements, instructions, restrictions are illegal, we lawyers are all in accordance with the law.” “To put it bluntly, not listening to them is ‘breaking the law’ and continuing to suppress you.”
He believes that the CCP’s crackdown on lawyers is “nakedly illegal” and “violates the rights of lawyers” in an unscrupulous and arbitrary manner, “They don’t care about the laws made by the state, that is, the laws they make. They don’t care about the laws made by the state, that is, the laws they make, they break the law in the first place.”
In the afternoon of March 27, Beijing human rights lawyer Lu Tingge, who was going to Zhengzhou to represent Xie Yanling in her house demolition case, was illegally summoned by the local police at the Shijiazhuang high-speed railway station on suspicion of “provocation and nuisance” and forcibly escorted to the police station, where his personal freedom was restricted for seven hours. He was forced to go to the police station and restricted his personal freedom for 7 hours.
Previously, Lu had been interviewed by the Justice Bureau and asked to withdraw from the “12 Hong Kong people” case, but when he was refused, he was suppressed. “In China, the so-called mouthpiece media never report on our case, and we have been defending our rights for years, but they don’t pay attention to us, they just cooperate with the government and the judiciary.
Lu Tingge thanked the foreign media for their attention and coverage, and hoped that the public would continue to pay attention to the group of human rights lawyers.
Lawyer Lu Siwei: Repression is very serious
Lu Siwei mentioned that for more than a decade, the group of human rights lawyers has been “suppressed and scattered” by the Chinese Communist Party, and it is almost impossible for them to continue the journey of representing human rights. “.
Talking about the current situation, he said, “No lawyer takes the case, as soon as you take it, you will be on their list and monitor you, and this list will actually bring a lot of trouble and inconvenience to the lawyers, including travel, control of the judicial bureau on you, etc.”
He mentioned that if a lawyer is more “outspoken” in the process of handling a case, “then they will definitely want to fix you. They will suspend your license, and if you continue, they will arrest you, just like Yu Wensheng and Qin Yongpei.
He mentioned that another status quo is the appearance of a large number of “official lawyers” to intervene in the name of the so-called commission, to engage in “plea bargaining”.
There is also “the control of lawyers through law firms”, not to accept cases, “not to give the seal, not to give a letter of introduction, then the lawyer can not do things. He said, “The law firm also exerts pressure on you to switch firms, unable to find a next home, hanging in the middle.”
On March 28, Lu Siwei wanted to take a flight to the U.S. Embassy in Beijing to sign a visa for an academic trip, but was intercepted by Sichuan State Security, which threatened to launch a plan against him if he forced his way on board, preventing him from traveling smoothly.
Lu Siwei, who has represented the June Fourth Movement, human rights lawyer Yu Wensheng, and dissident poet Wang Zang, had his lawyer’s license revoked last year for representing the 12 Hong Kong people case.
He has said that the suspension of his lawyer’s license was the result of years of handling human rights cases, and that representing the 12 Hong Kong people case was indeed the decisive factor in the CCP’s crackdown on him.
Lawyer Cheng Hai: Stand up to complain and sue, can’t give up
Cheng Hai said, from the “709” mass arrests and sentencing of lawyers, to the subsequent revocation of lawyer’s license and cancellation, this is the Chinese Communist Party’s power organs “wantonly bend the law”, is a “criminal act “I have been fighting for my rights,” he said.
He said, “to stand up and complain, to sue them, not to give up.”
“Someone has to persist in the struggle, there are more people to have the momentum.” He believes that giving up is the single most important cause of the CCP’s severe crackdown, and that “the collective resistance of lawyers will create a big resistance for them [the authorities].”
He suggested that more than a dozen lawyers’ licenses have been revoked and some others have been cancelled, and that “the CCP’s suppression of lawyers is illegal and criminal.” “Only speaking out is not an option, we have to take legal action. The process of accusing and complaining is to reveal and expose the fact that they are breaking the law and committing crimes!”
Lawyer Cheng Hai, now 68, has been representing Falun Gong practitioners one after another since 2007, and has been doing so for 12 years now. He has done it in all areas except remote areas such as Tibet, Xinjiang, and Hainan. Despite the illegal cancellation of his law firm and revocation of his lawyer’s license by the authorities, he still insisted on defending Falun Gong practitioners, and as a result, he was repeatedly beaten and injured by people from the authorities. He was also the defense lawyer hired by the family of lawyer Wang Quanzhang in the 709 case.
The Chinese Communist Party’s persecution of human rights lawyers has a long history and has long attracted international attention and condemnation from various countries. In particular, prominent lawyer Gao Zhisheng remains imprisoned in an unknown location. Some commentators say that human rights lawyers have been beaten out, can the Chinese people still have human rights? Who can still stand up and speak for everyone? The human rights of Chinese people have long existed in name only.
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