After talking about the significance about Xu Zhiyong’s work in the series The Significance of Xu Zhiyong, we need to go further to understand what the cracking down and detaining of Zhiyong means to the Chinese society.
It is a Clear NO
Despite of the high visibility and all activities under the current legal framework of Zhiyong, the organization (or the company) was shut down, and Zhiyong was detained by the police. It is a clear no to people who want to improve the society in a “under the Sun” type of activity, and may force such organizations to go underground. Underground organizations can easily result in violence. That is even more harmful.
Zhiyong’s work has a solid ground of performing everything publicly, and makes everything visible to the society. It is not a underground organization. They actually didn’t take any political sensitive cases. Most of the cases they took were purely civil cases, like to assist parents in the poison milk incident to get more compensation, and to assist Deng Yujiao who were nearly raped by local government officials and defended herself and killed the guy, and then accused for murder. All these cases are not politically sensitive. It is just as many of the lawyers did – to provide legal assistance to people. (Well. I am also convinced that lawyers are not working for justice – just to provide legal assistance)
P.S. I edited the content of the article after it is published.
Yes, thanks, I want to know the progress on the detainment of Xu Zhiyong. Will it be possible to keep information hidden from the public, now that Mr. Xu is detained? The online sources are quick and boundless…what can they do if they do not want information about the fate of this case leaked out?
I am not very positive about XU Zhiyong will not sentenced to be guilty. Look what happened about the case of TAN Zuoren (谭作人) this Wednesday. Mr, TAN is alomost working the same way as Mr. XU.
After the 2008 Sichuan earthquake Tan came up with a proposal called the “5.12 Student Archive” (5·12学生档案) asking people who lost their children in the quake to set up a victim database. But for his trouble, Chengdu police searched his home and confiscated his DVDs, manuscripts and documents.[2] On March 28, 2009 he was detained on allegations for subversion of state power.[1] Tan Zuoren was formally accused of defaming the Communist Party of China in email comments about the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989.[3]
On August 12, 2009 his trial in Chengdu, Sichuan province was adjourned without a verdict to his lawyer, Pu Zhiqiang (浦志强).[3] Pu also said that “The authorities getting their hands on your witness list and then harassing the witnesses and locking them away, that’s a disgrace for the courts in China. But it is the status quo of our judicial system, I think they are doing that because they are afraid.”[4]
Contemporary artist Ai Weiwei, who travelled to Chengdu to testify, said he and 10 other volunteers were woken up by police entering their hotel rooms at 3am dawn on August 12. He was beaten up and prevented from leaving until after the trial adjourned.[3] Tan’s supporters and Amnesty International said he was detained because he planned to issue an independent report on the collapse of school buildings during the sichuan earthquake.[3] Ai Weiwei said “they were like gangs in a movie, they could do whatever they wanted. It was very scary.”[3]
Tan’s trial began a week after another earthquake activist, Huang Qi, was tried on state secrets charges in Chengdu. Huang’s verdict has not yet been issued. Tan’s lawyer, Pu Zhiqiang said the report on the earthquake all show his investigation is objective and scientific.[3]
Hong Kong’s now TV aired footage of Chengdu police searching the luggage and hotel rooms of two of its journalists, who were prevented from leaving the hotel for seven hours, while police said they looked for drugs.[3]
2009年2月，起草《5·12学生档案》的倡议书，呼吁民间进行进行汶川大地震遇难学生校舍工程质量的调查。”确认每一个班级，每一所学校、每一个乡镇、每一个县市、每一个地区遇难学生的真实数据”。[3]同年3月28日，因涉嫌煽动颠覆国家政权罪而被拘留。[4][5]8月12日，成都市中级人民法院开庭审理此案，浦志强担任谭作人的辩护律师。谭作人所传唤证人或被警方控制，或未允许出庭，也没有在庭上播放其提供的影音证据，其辩护也遭到多次打断。法庭未当庭宣布对谭作人的裁决。[6]
2009年8月12日四川维权人士谭作人被控颠覆国家政权一案在成都开审，香港NOW电视台记者准备前往采访时，遭当地公安以查缉违禁品和毒品为借口扣留在酒店。香港记者协会随即发表 声明，谴责中共当局打压采访自由。
@ Jian Shuo:
Thank you so much for the information you provided. You should let the world know about it.
An absolute disgrace.
thank you jianshuo, for continuing to update us from within China on this matter. take care of yourself as well! hope the foot gets better soon