CHINA—According to Falun Gong’s Minghui net report on February 27, 2007, Attorney Zhu Yubiao from Guangda Law Office in Guangdong province was recently charged “counter-revolutionary” for defending Falun Gong by Guangdong Provincial Department of Justice. Local police listed him as “top key figure”.
In 2006, Zhu had filed three lawsuits on behalf of Falun Gong practitioners at his Guangda Law Office. He also personally defended them in court. These actions led government prosecutors to file charges against him, calling his actions “counter-revolutionary”.
On February 10, 2007, Zhu Yubiao was taken away from home by undercover police officers. He is currently being detained at Detention Center in Fuchong village, Shawn town, Guangzhou. At present, all attempts by family members to send money or clothing have been refused by the detention center.
The treatment of Zhu illustrates a common tactic used by the Chinese Communist Party against lawyers who have defended Falun Gong practitioners in the last few years. It is not unusual for lawyers who have successfully defended practitioners to later find themselves being harassed by police, or even fired from work.
In late February 2005, Shanghai attorney Guo Guoting was disbarred from practicing law by the Shanghai Bureau of Justice because he defended Falun Gong practitioners, as well as other political dissidents. Then in early March, Shanghai authorities placed attorney Guo under arrest and brought criminal charges against him. He was later released on bail and put under house arrest. Canadian Senior Member of Parliament and former Secretary of State (Asia-Pacific) for Canada David Kilgour and Lawyers’ Right Watch Canada (LRWC) made an appeal for his freedom. Many well-known Chinese attorneys from the mainland also came to his aid. As a result of this support, and under the watchful eye of media abroad, the Chinese Communist Party lifted his house arrest on March, 2005. Attorney Guo arrived in Canada in May later that same year.
In Juanuary 2006, Guangxi Province Zhong Chi Law Office fired attorney Yang Zaixin for defending Falun Gong practitioner Nong Youyue after he pled not guilty to his charges. At the end of 2005, prominent Beijing attorney Gao Zhisheng experienced nine months of continuous surveillance and harassment from National Security guards after submitting his open letters (Link to Gao’s open letters: http://en.epochtimes.com/news/6-3-25/39696.html) to the regime leaders Hu Jintao and Wen Jiabao. He was arrested on August 15, 2006 then later sentenced to jail for three years with a probation period for five years in a Chinese Communist regime’s closed door trail.
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