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Authorities in China are shifting to strike off two attorneys who defended 12 Hong Kong protesters jailed final week for “illegally crossing a border” after they tried to flee to Taiwan by speedboat.
Lu Siwei and Ren Quanniu obtained notification on Monday that their licenses have been being reviewed by their native judicial affairs bureaus as a result of they’d “posted inappropriate remarks” on-line.
Lu stated he had obtained a discover dated Jan. 4 from the provincial division of justice within the southwestern province of Sichuan informing him that his license will likely be revoked over his “inappropriate remarks,” which had damaged Chinese regulation {and professional} pointers for attorneys.
“At about 9:30 a.m. on Jan. 4, 2021, a staff member who claimed to be Xu Kai from the Sichuan provincial justice department came to my home and called me, saying he needed to serve me with a notification of investigation,” Lu stated in a publish printed on the Weiquanwang rights web site on Monday.
“He said they were going to investigate my inappropriate remarks [and that] the case had been filed,” he wrote.
“The notice clearly shows that the Sichuan provincial justice department intends to revoke my license to practise law on the grounds that I made inappropriate comments on the internet,” Lu stated. “When I got back home in the afternoon, I found that they had actually posted the same notice on my door.”
Lu stated his WeChat account had been blocked from midday. “I am unable to send any messages,” he wrote, including that he was “in shock” on the determination.
Lu stated he would submit a request for a listening to, however that the federal government had probably abused their powers in shifting straight to an administrative punishment with no likelihood for a protection.
“The punishment that Sichuan provincial justice department plans to impose on me is suppression and persecution for no good reason,” he wrote.
Lu, who was by no means allowed to go to his shopper Quinn Moon in Yantian Detention Center in Shenzhen, regardless of being employed by her household, has the precise to make an announcement in his personal protection, and should file a request for a disciplinary listening to inside three days.
Lu was notably vocal within the months following the preliminary detention of the 12 protesters aged 16 to 33 by the China Coast Guard on Aug. 23, repeatedly commenting about his makes an attempt to achieve entry to his shopper, to no avail.
‘Violating Chinese regulation’
Meanwhile, authorities within the central province of Henan despatched the same discover to lawyer Ren Quanniu, who was employed by the household of Wong Wai-yin.
The Dec. 31 discover from the provincial justice division stated it had investigated Ren on Dec. 21, and determined to revoke his license for “violating Chinese law and professional guidelines for lawyers.”
It gave no additional particulars. Ren has the identical proper to a listening to as Lu, though in follow such hearings are of little use to the lawyer involved.
Ren advised RFA by message that he felt shocked by the announcement, which he described as “sudden.”
“I’ll have to see what can be done; it’s pretty lawless,” he wrote in response to a request for remark.
Save 12 Hong Kong Youths, a priority group representing the households of the 12 detainees, issued an announcement condeming the transfer as “relatiatory persecution.”
“The move was “clearly focusing on two attorneys who dared to … insist on defending the fundamental rights of 12 Hong Kong individuals,” the group said.
“They are actually punishing them by destroying their livelihoods,” it stated.
The group stated the households as soon as extra thanked Lu, Ren, and the opposite protection attorneys who have been denied entry to their Hong Kong shoppers.
Making an instance
Du Song, director of the Hong Kong-based Chinese Human Rights Lawyers Concern Group, stated the ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is making an instance of Ren and Lu, who performed a key function talking out a couple of politically delicate case.
“Lu put a lot of effort into [this] case, and has handled a number of very sensitive cases in the past,” Du stated.
She stated among the attorneys employed by relations of the Hong Kong 12 had already withdrawn from the case after intense political strain from the authorities.
“In this case, they are officially striking off these lawyers, trying to scare off any other lawyers from taking human rights cases,” she stated.
Rights lawyer Lin Qilei described Lu Siwei as a fearless defender of human rights.
“Lu Siwei bravely stood up and accepted this case, to ensure [Quinn Moon] had a defense,” Lin wrote. “What is even more commendable is that he made public new developments and details of each case without fear, and responded to the concerns of the international media and human rights institutions.”
“These actions clearly angered the Chinese … authorities,” he stated.
Ten are sentenced, two are freed
On Dec. 31, 2020, a courtroom within the southern Chinese province of Guangdong handed down jail phrases of as much as three years to 10 of the 12 Hong Kong protesters detained on Aug. 23 as they tried to flee a nationwide safety crackdown within the metropolis, on fees linked to “illegally crossing a border.”
The Yantian District People’s Court in Guangdong’s Shenzhen metropolis sentenced Tang Kai-yin to a few years’ imprisonment for “organizing others to cross a border illegally,” whereas fellow activist Quinn Moon was jailed for 2 years on the identical cost, the courtroom stated in an announcement on its Weibo account.
“On the morning of December 30th, our court publicly sentenced Deng Jiran [Tang Kai-yin] and nine others,” the assertion stated.
“Deng Jiran was sentenced to three years’ imprisonment for “organizing others to cross the border illegally” and fined 20,000 yuan,” it stated. “Qiao Yingyu [Quinn Moon] was sentenced to two years’ imprisonment and a fine of 15,000 yuan.”
It stated fellow defendants Cheng Tsz-ho, Cheung Chun-fu, Li Tsz-yin, Andy Li, Wong Wai-yin, Kok Tsz-Lun, Jim Man-him, and Cheung Ming-jyu have been every jailed for seven months every for “illegally crossing a border” and fined 10,000 yuan every.
“The [eight above defendants] were accomplices in jointly committed crimes, and were therefore given lighter sentences,” the courtroom stated.
The sentences imply that even these handed extra lenient sentences will not get out of jail till March.
The remaining two detainees — Liu Tsz-man and Hoang Lam-fuk — have been despatched again to Hong Kong after the authorities stated they would not pursue fees towards them, as they have been beneath 18 on the time of their detention.
Liu might nonetheless face fees of arson and skipping bail, whereas Hoang faces the identical fees in addition to a cost of “possession of an offensive weapon” linked to final yr’s protest motion.
All 12 have been constantly denied entry to protection attorneys employed by their households and allotted government-approved attorneys to signify them at a trial that was successfully held behind closed doorways.
Since starting a nationwide crackdown in July 2015, authorities in provinces and cities throughout China have performed large-scale purges of attorneys deemed to not be toeing the occasion line, with a whole lot dropping their licenses in Hunan alone in September 2020.
Reported by Gigi Lee and Cheng Yut Yiu for RFA’s Cantonese Service. Translated and edited by Luisetta Mudie.
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