China arrests most prominent woman rights lawyer for subversion | Reuters

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    China formally arrests secretly held rights lawyers for subversion - World | The Star Online
    ▻http://www.thestar.com.my/news/world/2016/01/12/china-formally-arrests-secretly-held-rights-lawyers-for-subversion

    China formally arrested several Chinese human rights lawyers on suspicion of subverting state power after months of secret detention, one of their colleagues said on Tuesday, the latest move by authorities to crack down on dissent.

    President Xi Jinping’s administration has tightened control over almost every aspect of civil society since 2012, citing the need to buttress national security and stability.

    As many as 38 lawyers and activists associated with the Beijing Fengrui law firm have been swept up in the crackdown and held since July under a procedure which allows for six months of secret detention, Human Rights Watch has said.

    The firm has represented several high profile clients, such as the ethnic Uighur dissident Ilham Tohti. State media has accused the firm and its associates of orchestrating protests outside courts and politicizing ordinary legal cases in order to attract international attention.

    Zhou Shifeng, the firm’s director, was among those whose families were notified by police in the northern city of Tianjin on Tuesday of their Jan. 8 arrest, his colleague Liu Xiaoyuan said.

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      China arrests most prominent woman rights lawyer for subversion | Reuters
      ▻http://www.reuters.com/article/us-china-rights-idUSKCN0UR1I720160113

      Chinese authorities have formally arrested China’s most prominent woman human rights lawyer, accusing her of subverting the state, her lawyer said on Wednesday, as part of a crackdown on activists who have helped people fight for their legal rights.

      The lawyer, Wang Yu, was taken into custody last July and accused the next month of inciting subversion and “causing a disturbance”.

      On Wednesday, Wang’s mother received a notice, dated Monday, from police in the northern city of Tianjin, said Wang’s lawyer, Li Yuhan. Tianjin police declined to comment when reached by telephone.

      Wang is the best-known human rights lawyer targeted in an unprecedented nationwide sweep by Chinese police last July, during which hundreds of lawyers were detained. A formal arrest usually leads to a trial and conviction by China’s party-controlled courts.

      China has formally arrested at least five Chinese human rights lawyers on suspicion of “inciting subversion of state power” and subverting state power after months of secret detention, one of their colleagues said on Tuesday.

      In China, subversion charges are commonly leveled against critics of one-party rule. Subversion of state power carries a possible life sentence.

      “Wang Yu has provided her legal services to people on the lowest rungs of society. I never thought that she would be charged with subversion of state power,” Li said. “I just don’t understand this.”

      Li said she had not met Wang since her client’s detention. According to Li, police denied her requests to meet Wang seven times in the past six months on the grounds that Wang’s case “endangered state security”.

      Wang has defended Wu Gan, an online free speech advocate, Li Tingting, a prominent rights activist, and Cao Shunli, an activist who died in detention after being denied medical treatment.

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