Shanghai-based human rights attorney, Zheng Enchong, has his home ransacked by officials on a regular basis.
“They usually ransack my house on Wednesdays,” Zheng told The Epoch Times on May 9.
“This week, they called me to the [police] station on Wednesday instead of ransacking my home. They were trying to lower my guard. They came on Thursday instead and brought testing equipment. They even searched the hallways, but they didn’t find anything.”
That week he was called into the police station three times—bringing the total summons' to 56 times.
“They [officials] wanted to find my communication devices, namely my cell phones, in order to block my communication to the outside world. In April, they came three times and took away more than a dozen cell phones. But this time, they didn’t take away anything,” Zheng said.
Zheng was arrested in June 2003 and accused of stealing “state secrets” and passing them to “entities outside China.”
He was imprisoned for three years. Previously, Zheng Enchong had his licence to practice law revoked in 2001 after he advised more than 500 families displaced by Shanghai's urban redevelopment projects on their rights to fair compensation from the authorities, according to Amnesty International.
“They thought I wasn’t receiving any help. A lot of appellants are actually helping me. I have been able to keep contact with the outside world. I think it’s supposed to be this way.”
Phone calls to Zheng are becoming increasingly difficult. Police repeatedly take away his cell phones, yet appellants who have admired Zheng for his work, have continued to give him new cell phones. He also receives a large number of harassing calls from the police.
Zheng keeps his calm and sense of humor.
“On May 4, I was called to the police station the 54th time. Maybe on June 4 it will be the 64th time, on July 20 it will be the 72nd time, and on October 1 it will be the 100th time.”
Zheng refers to upcoming “politically sensitive” dates for the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). June 4 is the 20th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square Massacre; July 20 marks 10 years since the persecution of Falun Gong was launched; and October 1 is the 60th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China.
Zheng said Falun Gong practitioner's efforts to invent software that breaks through the Chinese regime's Internet censoship is a huge contribution to freedom of information.
"In Shanghai, such software is quite common now. This has enabled us to see the world outside of the CCP’s control. From my personal perspective, I think Falun Gong practitioners are respected because of their high morality. Both in China and overseas, they have persevered in their faith.”
