Category Archives: Writers in Prison

Case of Chinese Free Speech Activist ‘The Butcher’ Moved to Tianjian

Wu Gan

Wu Gan stages protest outside Jiangxi High Court, May 19, 2015. Boxun

Authorities in the southeastern Chinese province of Fujian have transferred the subversion case of a prominent free speech activist known as “the Butcher” to the northern port city of Tianjin, his lawyer said on Tuesday. Continue reading

‘China’s Gandhi’ Jailed For Five Years in Guangzhou Three Verdict

Tang Jingling

Guangzhou rights lawyer Tang Jingling in an undated photo. (Photo courtesy of a family member.)

Authorities in the southern Chinese province of Guangdong on Friday handed down jail terms of up to five years to the “Guangzhou Three” rights activists for subversion, after they sought to launch a civil disobedience campaign to protect human rights. Continue reading

Letter from international legal community condemns arrests of Chinese lawyers

Wang Yu Protest

Among the Chinese lawyers arrested recently was Wang Yu, a prominent human rights lawyer in China. AP photo / Mark Schiefelbein.

Prominent lawyers and former judges joined with presidents of international bar associations in condemning in a Monday letter the recent arrests of Chinese lawyers and associates. Continue reading

China: Subversion Charges Target Lawyers

Arrests Reflect Xi Jinping’s Broader Repression of Rights Activism

(New York) – The Chinese authorities’ formal arrest of at least 11 human rights lawyers, legal assistants, and activists on political subversion charges is an unprecedented and grave escalation of attacks on rights defenders in China, Human Rights Watch said today. Authorities should immediately drop the charges and release the 11, as well as other lawyers and human rights advocates in custody for political reasons. Continue reading

China arrests most prominent woman rights lawyer for subversion

BEIJING | By Sui-Lee Wee

Human rights lawyer Wang Yu talks during an interview with Reuters in Beijing in this March 1, 2014 photo. REUTERS/Kim Kyung-Hoon/Files

Human rights lawyer Wang Yu talks during an interview with Reuters in Beijing in this March 1, 2014 photo. REUTERS/Kim Kyung-Hoon/Files

Chinese authorities have formally arrested China’s most prominent woman human rights lawyer, accusing her of subverting the state, her lawyer said on Wednesday, as part of a crackdown on activists who have helped people fight for their legal rights. Continue reading

Tom Phillips : Wife of Chinese human rights lawyer missing for six months tells of despair

Li Heping was taken from his home in July and has not been seen since along with dozens of other attorneys amid a crackdown on dissidents
Li Heping

Li Heping, a well-known human rights lawyers, has been missing in China since 10 July 2015. ‘I never thought this country could be so corrupt,’ his wife said. Photograph: Supplied

Six months after her husband was spirited into secret detention by security forces, the wife of one of China’s top civil rights lawyers has spoken of her grief and despair. Continue reading

Anguish for families of missing China lawyers

Li Wenzu

© AFP / by Tom Hancock | Li Wenzu tells her three-year old son his daddy is on a “business trip”

TIANJIN (CHINA) (AFP) -Every day Li Wenzu’s son asks her why his daddy has not come home, she says. Her husband went missing six months ago in a sweeping crackdown on Chinese human rights lawyers, but she tells the three-year-old he is on a “business trip”. Continue reading

Verna Yu: Beijing ‘silencing’ outspoken rights lawyer with restrictions on suspended jail term

PZQ1

China’s rights lawyer Pu Zhiqiang speaks at a court session in Beijing. The court convicted Pu, one of China’s most prominent rights lawyers, on December 22, 2015 of “inciting ethnic hatred” and trouble-making with posts criticising the government. Photo: Reuters

Rights lawyer Pu Zhiqiang, who was convicted for his online criticism of the Communist Party, will begin serving the terms of his suspended sentence on Tuesday after he declined to appeal, but the previously outspoken figure will remain under tight restrictions aimed at silencing him, his lawyer said on Monday. Continue reading