BusinessGhana

May 14, 2013

Seven Chinese rights lawyers were assaulted outside an illegal “black jail” reportedly used to detain members of the banned Falun Gong spiritual movement, one of the lawyers and rights groups said on Tuesday.

Beijing-based lawyer Liang Xiaojun said the lawyers were released from police custody on Tuesday after they were assaulted and detained outside the compound near Ziyang city in the south-western province of Sichuan.

“We seven lawyers heard that there was a ‘legal education centre’ in Ziyang where they lock up Falun Gong believers for a long time without any legal procedure,” Liang told dpa by telephone.

“So we just wanted to go there and have a look and take some pictures to post online, calling for people’s attention,” he said.

The Hong Kong-based China Human Rights Lawyers Concern Group said it “condemns the violent act and demands Ziyang police investigate the incident and prosecute those who are held responsible.”

The assault was “one of the many incidents” this year of public officials attacking Chinese lawyers, the group said.

Liang said six of the seven lawyers were injured in the assault, which was one of several reported by lawyers while helping Falun Gong practitioners in recent weeks.

Liang witnessed a police assault on lawyer Cheng Hai last month when they and other lawyers represented practitioners facing criminal prosecution in the north-eastern city of Dalian.

On Monday, in Ziyang, the seven lawyers had started taking photographs when a car without licence plates approached and people inside asked them to stop, Liang said.

“They threatened us and we had an argument,” he said. “We asked them to show their credentials but they refused.”

Local police arrived and demanded to see the lawyers’ identity cards.

Lawyer Tang Tianhao handed his over but was attacked after he tried to get it back.

Liang said he and the other lawyers suffered minor injuries when they tried to help but were pushed back. Tang was left with a gash on his head and mark on his face, he said.

Tang and two other lawyers were forced into a police car, so the rest of the group went with them to a police station. They were all released by Tuesday morning, he said.

The police briefly detained four more lawyers who went to help Liang and the others after they were attacked, US-based Human Rights in China said.

Human Rights in China quoted sources as saying the Ziyang Legal Education Centre held some 260 people in February, including several who were detained for up to six years without trial.

China’s ruling Communist Party banned Falun Gong, branded it an “evil cult” and launched a crackdown on the group in 1999 after thousands of adherents staged a sit-in outside the party’s leadership compound in Beijing.

International rights groups and Chinese rights lawyers still highlight Falun Gong practitioners as one of China’s most persecuted groups.

The movement once had up to 70 million members according to official reports. Its founder, Li Hongzhi, lives in the United States.

Original article