{"id":74322,"date":"2017-06-14T15:40:00","date_gmt":"2017-06-14T15:40:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/127.0.0.1:10081\/?p=74322 "},"modified":"2017-06-14T15:40:00","modified_gmt":"2017-06-14T15:40:00","slug":"74322-revision-v1","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/minzhuzhongguo.org\/?p=74322","title":{"rendered":"Chinese Authorities \\&#8217;Appoint\\&#8217; Government Lawyer For Detained Attorney Wang Quanzhang"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\">2017-06-14<\/span><\/p>  <p>&nbsp;<\/p><div>&nbsp;<\/div><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/mzzg.org\/UploadCenter\/ArticlePics\/2017\/23\/2017614image(1).jpg\" alt=\"2017614image(1).jpg (587&#215;330)\" \/><br \/><div>&nbsp;<\/div>  <p><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\">Lawyers Yu Wensheng (L) and Cheng Hai (R) after a failed attempt to meet their detained client, human rights lawyer Wang Quanzhang, at Tianjin No. 2 Detention Center, May 15, 2017.<\/span><\/p>  <p><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\">RFA<\/span><\/p>  <p>&nbsp;<\/p>  <p><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\">Authorities in the Chinese capital have warned off a lawyer hired by the family of detained human rights attorney Wang Quanzhang, saying that he will be represented by a government-appointed lawyer instead.<\/span><\/p>  <p>&nbsp;<\/p>  <p><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\">Wang has been held at an unknown location without trial or access to a lawyer or family visits for nearly two years after being detained in a nationwide July 2015 police operation targeting rights lawyers and associated activists.<\/span><\/p>  <p>&nbsp;<\/p>  <p><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\">Recently, the Beijing branch of the China Law Association contacted his defense attorney Yu Wensheng to inform him that he is no longer instructed to act for his client.<\/span><\/p>  <p>&nbsp;<\/p>  <p><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\">&#8220;The Tianjin branch of the Law Association has appointed a lawyer, but we don&#8217;t yet know who the lawyer is,&#8221; Yu said in a recent interview. &#8220;But I and [fellow defense attorney] Cheng Hai want to stand up for our right to represent him.&#8221;<\/span><\/p>  <p>&nbsp;<\/p>  <p><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\">&#8220;We plan to go to Tianjin, because according to the rules, I and Cheng Hai are his lawyers, and we can only have our instructions terminated by Wang Quanzhang himself,&#8221; he said.<\/span><\/p>  <p>&nbsp;<\/p>  <p><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\">Yu said the authorities are likely making it as hard as possible for detained lawyers like Wang to defend themselves.<\/span><\/p>  <p>&nbsp;<\/p>  <p><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\">&#8220;If there&#8217;s any point to it at all, then it&#8217;s to do with stability maintenance,&#8221; he said.<\/span><\/p>  <p>&nbsp;<\/p>  <p><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\">Cheng said the Law Association is working with the judicial affairs bureau to control Wang&#8217;s choice of lawyer.<\/span><\/p>  <p>&nbsp;<\/p>  <p><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\">&#8220;I told them that we are his lawyers, that we have already filed the papers, and that we are legally his representatives,&#8221; he said. &#8220;They need to tell Wang Quanzhang to terminate our instructions, otherwise we can&#8217;t stop acting on them.&#8221;<\/span><\/p>  <p>&nbsp;<\/p>  <p><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\">Making life harder for lawyers<\/span><\/p>  <p>&nbsp;<\/p>  <p><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\">He said the move was likely just another way of making life harder for Chinese lawyers.<\/span><\/p>  <p>&nbsp;<\/p>  <p><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\">&#8220;The Tianjin Law Association is out of line, and it&#8217;s just another form of insult to the legal profession in China,&#8221; he said.<\/span><\/p>  <p>&nbsp;<\/p>  <p><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\">Meanwhile, Wang&#8217;s wife Li Wenzu said her father-in-law has been targeted by local officials, who are threatening to cut off his state pension if he doesn&#8217;t come home and stop trying to find out where his son is being held.<\/span><\/p>  <p>&nbsp;<\/p>  <p><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\">&#8220;Yesterday, Wang Quanzhang&#8217;s father&#8217;s former employer called him twice, then the local party secretary called him, telling him to go home as soon as possible, or he could wind up with no income,&#8221; Li told RFA.<\/span><\/p>  <p>&nbsp;<\/p>  <p><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\">&#8220;We think that they have an ulterior motive &#8230; it&#8217;s because we have continued to speak out against [Wang&#8217;s detention],&#8221; she said. &#8220;They have come up with a new way [to persecute us], but we won&#8217;t give up; we will remain united, and continue our fight for Wang Quanzhang.&#8221;<\/span><\/p>  <p>&nbsp;<\/p>  <p><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\">Wang once worked for the now-shuttered Fengrui law firm that was the first target of police raids and detentions in July 2015 that broadened into a nationwide operation targeting more than 300 lawyers, law firm staff and associated rights activists for detention, professional sanctions, house arrest and travel bans, including for family members,<\/span><\/p>  <p>&nbsp;<\/p>  <p><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\">In March, fellow Fengrui lawyer Liu Xiaoyuan made a complaint to Beijing&#8217;s mayoral hotline, likening the crackdown on lawyers to the political violence of the Cultural Revolution (1966-1976).<\/span><\/p>  <p>&nbsp;<\/p>  <p><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\">Investigations by RFA revealed that while Beijing Fengrui is still listed as a law firm on the official website of the Beijing judicial affairs bureau, the firm&#8217;s former premises in the capital are now occupied by a commercial company.<\/span><\/p>  <p>&nbsp;<\/p>  <p><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\">But Fengrui cases continue to be cited in the education and information section of the bureau&#8217;s website.<\/span><\/p>  <p>&nbsp;<\/p>  <p><br \/><\/p>  <p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.rfa.org\/english\/news\/china\/lawyer-trial-06142017123031.html\"><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\">For detail please visit here<\/span><\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&lt;div&gt;Wang has been held at an unknown location without trial or access to a lawyer or family visits for nearly two years after being detained in a nationwide July 2015 police operation targeting rights lawyers and associated activists.&lt;\/div&gt; 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