Radical lawyer confesses

By Cao Siqi Source:Global Times Published: 2015-7-20 0:28:02

Detention not ‘crackdown’ on attorneys: analysts


Analysts denied that the recent detention of several lawyers was a crackdown on attorneys and said that the illegal practices of the detained lawyers, including disrupting court order and inciting protests, have tarnished the image of China's legal professionals.

Zhou Shifeng, director of the Beijing-based Fengrui Law Firm, eight other lawyers and several staff members were detained over disrupting public order and seeking profits by illegally hiring protesters and attempting to sway court decisions in the name of "defending justice and public interests."
Zhou confessed to his crimes, saying "there is no doubt that my law firm had violated laws and made serious mistakes," the Xinhua News Agency reported late Saturday.

Since July 2012, the group has organized more than 40 controversial incidents.

Several of those detained admitted that the law firm often hyped and politicized sensitive cases to raise international attention. They admitted that the firm had purposely picked up controversial and sensitive cases to gain prominence.

The Xinhua report revealed new details of how Zhou's firm made a scene in and out of courts across China to prop up its reputation.

One of those detained, Wu Gan, also known by his online name "Super Vulgar Butcher," was specifically hired by Zhou despite his lack of proper legal education to take care of the "physical" aspect of cases, or to incite protests.

According to Xinhua, Wu had played a key role in several cases by raising banners outside courthouses, shouting and screaming slogans while inciting netizens to launch a cyber-search of court judges and local officials and posting messages to hype cases on multiple occasions.

"Although Wu was not a lawyer, he was capable of doing what lawyers cannot do," Zhou said in his confession.

While stirring trouble outside courts, lawyers at the firm also disrupted court hearings.

In April, video of a court hearing in Shenyang, Liaoning Province showed Fengrui lawyers shouting and screaming shortly after the hearing began, defying the judges' calls for order. A female lawyer, Wang Yu, who was also detained, was caught on video pointing her finger at court police and calling them "animals."

Making a scene and then being forced out of court was the group's usual trick to gain sympathy and to call attention to cases.

Lawyers image tarnished

Zhou also confessed that he hired lawyers with specific backgrounds to boost the firm's reputation.

He allegedly asked Huang Liqun, former deputy director of the Bureau of Letters and Calls of the National People's Congress, to retire early from his position and join Fengrui for Huang's "resources within the government system."

Zhou is also suspected of tax evasion, bribing civil servants and maintaining inappropriate relationships with several women.

The group allegedly lead petitioners to protest hot-button issues while raising funds online, part of which went directly into Zhou's personal accounts.

The detentions attracted international attention with some foreign embassies, including those of the US and Canada, voicing concerns on their websites. Some Western media have labeled the detention a "government crackdown on legal activists."

"China has over 270,000 lawyers and the detained ones are only a small part of them. They neither represent the profession nor should their detention be interpreted as a government crackdown on lawyers," Hong Daode, a law professor at the China University of Political Science and Law, told the Global Times.

Zhao Jianwen, a research fellow at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, agrees. He said that mainstream Chinese lawyers maintain a high level of professional ethics and those detained have tarnished the image of Chinese lawyers.

China supports lawyers who defend justice and public interests, but not those who violate the law and are driven by profits, Zhao said.

Hong added that the case will soon enter the next phase, wherein the lawyers will be officially arrested and charged.



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