Policemen stand outside the People's Higher Court in Chongqing on May 21, 2010, after Wen Qiang, 55, former deputy police chief in Chongqing Municipality, lost his appeal and was sentenced to death for bribery, protecting criminal gangs and rape. Photo: IC

 

From the moment when Qian Lieyang, 49, one of the most experienced criminal defense lawyers based in Beijing, agreed to defend Liu Zhijun, the former railway minister accused of corruption, he expected a torrent of threats and insults to target him.

As high-ranking officials' court cases are often shrouded in mystery, the lawyers standing beside them become magnets for public attention. Like many other lawyers who have represented high-ranking officials, Qian received angry messages from Web users, asking why he would choose to protect an "evil" man, while even fellow lawyers wrote articles questioning his ethics.

"A corrupt official deserves a good lawyer and that is the bottom line of human rights," he told the Global Times. This response was also given by other criminal lawyers, who become famous by representing corrupt officials in China, faced with the public criticism.

Liu Tao, professor at People's Public Security University, said that the ex-minister's case, marking the central government's decisiveness in fighting against corruption, is high-profile enough to attract any criminal defense lawyer, as none of them would refuse to be part of such an important moment.

Why represent 'evil'?

Qian was contacted by the Beijing Legal Aid Center this February asking him to represent Liu Zhijun, who had confessed to all the crimes he had been indicted with but refused to appoint any lawyers himself. But according to the Criminal Law, defendants who are facing life imprisonment or the death penalty cannot represent themselves and must have a lawyer.

"I had no reason to refuse," Qian said, admitting that this is the most influential case he has taken. He has represented over 50 corrupt officials since 2003 and has been called "the lawyer who exclusively serves officials."

Xu Lanting, 52, another criminal defense lawyer in Beijing who rose to fame after representing high-level officials, told the Global Times that such cases are usually more interesting and offer closer views inside China's judicial system.

The commission fee is around 2,000 yuan ($326) and Qian and his fellow lawyer received 1,800 yuan in fees after Liu Zhijun's case. "Such cases are not so profitable as commercial ones. But the experience accumulated is irreplaceable. And even if you lose, your name becomes well-known," Liu Tao said.

Many lawyers like to take such cases despite criticisms and pressure. However, not everyone has the chance to defend these "evil" men.

Qian first made his name by defending a bureau-level official at China Central Television and getting his penalty reduced. After that, many families of accused officials came to him.

A similar story happened to Gao Zicheng, co-founder of Beijing Kangda Law Firm. He helped an ex-minister face only a five-year imprisonment in 2002 and the next day, received dozens of calls for representation.

 "Actually I was still green, but with massive media coverage and online discussions about such cases, lawyers in the mix can easily make a name for themselves," he said.

 In some cases, high-level officials' lawyers are appointed by local legal aid centers, who keep a list of qualified lawyers to pick from for different cases in accordance to their expertise.

Although the assignment is not compulsory, lawyers generally accept, a source from the Beijing Legal Aid Center told the Global Times, adding that the lawyers on the list should be experienced and politically reliable. For instance, Qian used to be a police officer and Xu once taught at the Party school of the CPC Shenyang Committee.

Sharp criticisms 

However, it is this "political reliability" that is the most damning in the eyes of many critics. "Web users criticized me for saving Liu Zhijun from the death penalty and aligning myself with corrupt officials, as they had sentenced him in their hearts before the case even began," Qian said.

Yang Kuangsheng, a close friend of Qian, also had a bitter taste of how people look at lawyers representing high-ranking officials when he was defending Wen Qiang, former deputy police chief in Chongqing Municipality. He was lambasted despite having been hired directly by Wen's family, and not assigned by any legal aid center.

Yang said he smoked incessantly during the case to release the pressure and received injections to cope with the stress during the case. 

"It is irrational to think corrupt officials don't deserve a good lawyer. Such criticisms reflect a severe lack of legal consciousness and a twisted hatred toward corrupt officials in China," said Liu Tao.

He added that more importantly, the one-sided pressure of public opinion on lawyers and judges can actually weigh unfairly on cases. 

Liu Zhijun's trial opened at 7 am on July 8 and three hours later, the judge announced the result. This stunned the entire legal community, aghast at how such a big case with 477 files of legal material could have been over so quickly.

Yang could not understand, as the trial of Wen lasted five days and the debates lasted until midnight every day.

Chen Youxi, a law professor at Renmin University of China, wrote an article questioning whether Qian really argued his case in court, or simply followed instructions and made no effort to defend Liu Zhijun. 

"The lawyer, together with the procurators and court judge, staged a show that was directed by unnamed authorities," Chen wrote of the case. He added that once a lawyer found out the trial might just be for show, they should withdraw immediately from the case to preserve justice.

However, during a debate forum held at Tsinghua University on July 13 with more than 20 lawyers, half of the panel stated that lawyers should see a case through, even if they know full well the trial is being guided by the procuratorates, as lawyers could at least maintain a role in the play and try to not let them win so easily. 

This point remained unsettled during the debate but it brought up a question that has irked criminal lawyers for a long time. Can they really make any changes in cases involving high-ranking officials?

Making a difference

With 10 years' work experience at the Supreme People's Procuratorate, Yang answered the question in a euphemistic way: we cannot judge a lawyer's work by the trial result and should look for value instead as to whether the defendants got a fair trial where procedure was followed. 

"I can give my closing statement as a defense lawyer and the judge can ignore it, but all these will be recorded as history, and might be referred to or even corrected someday," Yang added.

Tian Wenchang, once named the "No. 1 criminal defense lawyer in China", recently told the Southern Weekly that he refuses to take lawsuits with overly murky backgrounds as "there can be too many non-legal factors affecting such cases." 

He insisted that an independent lawyer should not face any pressure from authorities. In 2008, he refused to defend Chen Liangyu, former Party secretary in Shanghai and a former member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, China's most powerful political bodies.

Li Xiaolin represented Zhang Xiaojun, accused of poisoning Neil Heywood with Bo Xilai's wife, Bogu Kailai. Li Xiaolin told the Global Times that politically sensitive cases such as Bo being accused of embezzlement, bribery and abuse of power recently, leave no room for lawyers to have much leeway to interfere.

Bo Xilai's lawyer Li Guifang, who was assigned by the Beijing Legal Aid Center, has refused any contact with the press, a stance Qian shared before the end of Liu Zhijun's case. 

For lawyers, the pressure is on from the moment they take a case like this.

The lawyers the Global Times talked to all shared similar experiences. They are told very sternly by judges not to "cause any surprises" during the trial, access to defendants is tricky and involves travelling far and riot police armed with batons line up outside the courts, making for an intimidating atmosphere.

"But still, I did what I should do, even though the judge did not view my argument as effective," Qian said. Gao Zicheng, the lawyer who did represent Chen Liangyu, echoed him.

"Whatever their intentions are for taking on such cases, choosing to represent these officials will be able to help reduce wrong convictions and make progress in China's judicial system," Han Jiayi, director of the criminal defense commission at the All China Lawyers Association told the Global Times.

Lawyers exist to restrict public power and if no famous lawyer dares to face a loss of reputation for defending a "bad official", the result would be a tragedy for the entire profession, he said, adding that no lawyer should judge their profession from the angle of morality, which is wholly outside the law.

When lawyers mount serious defenses, it allows not only their critics but also government officials to better understand the rule of law, Yang said, as lawyers have met too many high-ranking officials who don't believe being represented in court would help them.

"They never really followed or trusted the law. They have always believed 'I belong to the Party so I can't hire a lawyer to fight against it.' They hope that not defending themselves will help authorities smile on them and mitigate their sentences. But that's a hopeless way to go about it," he said.

Gao Zicheng, after finishing Chen Liangyu's case, said even he felt pressure the whole way, but the trial result is fair enough. "That keeps my hopes up for justice in China."