Evidence presented at the Beijing Municipal Judicial Bureau hearing against lawyers Liu Wei and Tang Jitian included accusations that they had behaved illegally by making arguments and disputing opinions in Luzhou Court in April 2009.

The two lawyers say they were illegally videotaped during the trial, interrupted repeatedly by the judge and ordered out of the courtroom by unidentified men.

“The notion that lawyers can be punished for presenting evidence and arguing their case in court is absurd,” said Sam Zarifi, Amnesty International’s Asia-Pacific Director.  “The Chinese Ministry of Justice must send a signal that it will protect lawyers from political intimidation and uphold their right and duty to defend their clients appropriately, in line with Chinese law and international legal standards.”

Hope
The Beijing Municipal Judicial Bureau ended the hearing on 22 April 2010 without issuing a decision on revoking the lawyers’ licences, or officially testifying that the lawyers had “violated law”, which is seen as small victory for the legal process.

Liu Wei, one of the lawyers being threatened with having her license revoked, told Amnesty International “it may take a month to get a result.  But after the legal debate they may realized that they are the ones who have violated the law, not us.”

“If the result is judged by our defence today and according to the law, we will surely win.”

The two lawyers still stand accused of “disrupting courtroom order and interfering with the regular litigation process” while defending members of the Falun Gong spiritual movement, banned in the People´s Republic of China since 1999.

Supporters detained
Some 500 supporters of the lawyers protested outside the hearing venue, and were met by nearly 200 police officers. Around 20 protesters were detained, most of whom were released by the end of the day.

Government authorities used intimidation to prevent two lawyers scheduled to represent Liu Wei and Tang Jitian from attending the hearing, and other prominent lawyers supporting the pair were put under surveillance or “soft detention” to prevent them attending.

“Escalating harassment of Chinese lawyers is seriously undermining the rule of law, and risks further lowering public trust in the Chinese legal system,” said Sam Zarifi.

Government authorities in the People´s Republic of China continue to harass and disrupt the work of lawyers taking politically sensitive cases, in particular cases involving Falun Gong practitioners, Tibetans and Uighurs.

In March 2010, Chang Boyang, a lawyer representing Tibetan Film maker, Dhondup Wangcheng, was threatened with the closing of his law firm if he did not drop the case, mirroring the treatment of Dhondup Wangcheng’s previous lawyer Li Dunyong. 

Dhondup Wangcheng was sentenced to six years’ imprisonment for “inciting separatism” for making a documentary, Leaving Fear Behind, which features a series of interviews with Tibetans questioning the Chinese authorities’ promises of greater freedom in the run-up to the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

International claim
The International Observatory for Lawyers, aiming to protect and defend lawyers under threat around the world, calls for:

  • the Chinese authorities and diplomatic representations in the People´s Republic of China to take all measures necessary to enable the renewal of the licences of Tang Jitian, Liu Wei, and all lawyers in the People´s Republic of China in the same position; and to guarantee them, under all circumstances, the right to practice their right to defend freely;
  • the United Nations Organisation to intervene with the People´s Republic of China to invite it to take all measures necessary to enable the renewal of the licences of Tang Jitian, Liu Wei, and all lawyers in the People´s Republic of China in the same position; and to guarantee them, under all circumstances, the right to practice their right to defend freely;
  • lawyers professional councils and organisations to provide their support to Tang Jitian, Liu Wei, and all their Chinese colleagues who have been deprived of their rights to practice their profession, by circulating this alert and/or any letters of support to national and international authorities to encourage them to renew the licences of their colleagues, and to all lawyers in the People´s Republic of China in the same position; and to ensure them, under all circumstances, the right to practice their right to defend freely.

The Observatory stresses that colleagues of Tang Jitian and Liu Wei have also been deprived of their licences for similar reasons and that support must be provided to them for them to practice their profession freely.