Lawyers under fire for defending gangs

• Source: Global Times
• [02:57 December 07 2009]
• Comments

No defense lawyers in gang-related cases were allowed to meet with their clients during the investigation process, and had no access to archives during the trial, according to Zhou.

"Those lawyers from Beijing will be trapped in similar difficult positions, I'm afraid," Zhou said.

During Saturday's trial of a 26-member crime syndicate, Xiao Ying, a defense attorney, argued that the rights of the suspects were violated, as their lawyers had neither access to clients nor case archives, according to the Beijing News.

Xiao said she and other lawyers only met the suspects in the case before the trial was to start, with two case staff present.

The five-day trial concluded Saturday with six of the defendants pleading guilty in court, while 19 claimed Wednesday they suffered torture during interrogation.

Qiu Geping, a professor of criminology at the Shanghai-based East China University of Political Science and Law, noted that those lawyers who choose to defend suspects face considerable pressure, which, she believes, is mainly caused by the stance taken by local government.

The Chongqing Judiciary Bureau issued a notice on September 8 urging lawyers involved in criminal gang cases to "have political awareness, take the overall situation into consideration and obey the rules," the Southern Weekend reported.

It also banned defense lawyers from granting interviews to the press, reports said.

The campaign to clamp down on underworld gangs is truly essential and necessary, Qiu said. "But the move should be free from political influence. Following the law, suspects, if found guilty, will surely face the punishment they deserve, even without political pressure," she said.

Officials of the Political and Legal Affairs Commission in Chongqing explained that gang-related cases are very complicated and the early involvement of attorneys would disturb the investigation, while insisting that justice won't be affected by defects of procedure as long as the trials are open, the Beijing News reported.

Zhou Litai, however, strongly disagrees. "Procedural justice is the premise for substantive justice," he said. "We can't sacrifice it for the anti-gang campaign."

Chongqing judicial bureau could not be reached Sunday.

Qiu Wei and Liu Dong contributed to this story