2014-07-11
File photo of human rights lawyer Li Fangping in Beijing, April 3, 2008
AFP
The Chinese government is continuing an apparent policy of nationwide harassment and physical attacks on the nation's lawyers, especially those involved in politically sensitive or high-profile cases, lawyers said.
Liu Zhengqing, a prominent rights attorney from the southern city of Guangzhou, was visited around midnight by four police officers in a hotel room while he was in Guangdong's Foshan city, defending a case, he told RFA.
The officers proceeded to search his room, he said.
"They didn't give a reason, nor did they produce any official documents," Liu said. "They just showed up out of the blue while I was asleep and opened the door and walked right in."
"They flipped through all of my case files. They said they were police, and that they had the power to search any Chinese citizen," he said.
He said he believed the visit to have been a form of deliberate harassment on the part of the authorities.
"I will definitely be pursuing this," Liu said.
Roughly handled
Meanwhile, top Beijing rights lawyer Li Fangping said he had been manhandled and roughly treated by officers from a state prosecution service.
The incident happened after Li traveled to the central province of Hunan to help local attorney Cai Ying with a case. Cai was illegally detained, while the officials used "a great deal of force" to shove Li around, he said.
