ICC Note:
Legal persecution of Christians and their defense lawyers continues to be a primary issue for the growing body of believers in the world’s most populous country. As the faithful continue to see their churches shut down and their members detained, increasingly so those that come to their defense run the risk of detention in so-called “black jails.” ICC and the international community continue to call on China to right past wrongs and to respect every individual’s right to worship freely.
04/14/2014 China (NTD) – The Chinese Communist Party continues to step up it’s suppression of human rights lawyers. This is despite international condemnation of the recent detention and violent assault of lawyers in Jiansanjiang. In recent days, Chinese state security assaulted Zhejiang lawyer Wang Cheng and Guangdong lawyer Liu Shihui. On Thursday, two attorneys defending the detained pastor of the Nanle County Christian Church were illegally detained. Suppressing lawyers will only cause more Chinese people to awaken.
In Jiansanjiang, there are still 14 citizens detained by police. On April 11, lawyers Lin Qilei, Huang Hanzhong, and Yang Yongwei, as well as three Chinese citizens went to Jiansanjiang detention center. They were requesting a meeting with detained citizens. The detention center director rejected their request and expelled them.
At 12:00 on April 10, Beijing lawyer Huang Hanzhong and citizens Ding Yan and Liu Shaoming visited Jiansanjiang. Three police surrounded them and confiscated their ID’s and mobile phones. Huang Hanzhong was pushed around.
Within 30 minutes, a police van arrived with five or six police armed with submachine guns. The lawyers were forced to leave quickly, and even the taxi driver was fined with 200 yuan.
Lawyer Wang Cheng was detained in Jiansanjiang black jail for 15 days, and suffered fractured bones from being beaten. He was released and returned home, but is once again subject to police harassment.
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