Liu Sixin (刘四新)
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Liu Sixin 刘四新
(released)
Crime: Subversion of state power
Length of Punishment: N/A
Court: N/A
Trial Date: N/A
Sentencing Date: N/A/
Dates of Detention/Arrest: July 10, 2015 (detained); January 8, 2016 (arrested); November 2016 (released)
Place of Incarceration: Tianjin No. 2 Detention Center
Background Information
Police detained activist and Beijing Fengrui Law Firm administrative assistant Liu Sixin (刘四新) during a nationwide crackdown on human rights lawyers and activists. Liu disappeared on July 10, 2015, phoning his colleague Liu Xiaoyuan (刘晓原) in the morning and shouting, “They’re coming!” before the line went dead. As a part of the government smear campaign against the law firm, Liu was featured in state media on July 19 “confessing”—likely under duress—and claiming his colleagues were unprofessional. Police initially held Liu under criminal detention at Hexi District Detention Center in Tianjin on suspicion of “creating a disturbance” as well as a crime in the category of “endangering state security.” His defense lawyer tried to visit him on July 28, when his detention location was confirmed, but was blocked by authorities. On February 28, a detention center officer claimed that Liu had supposedly “fired” his family-appointed lawyers, Wang Lei (王磊) and Ge Wenxiu (葛文秀), and had agreed to bring on new counsel. However, the officer refused to provide the contact information for the newly assigned lawyers. Liu was released on bail in November 2016 on an unknown date.
Liu, born 1966, holds master’s degrees in law from China University of Political Science and Law and American University in Washington DC, as well as a doctorate in law from Peking University. He also completed a post-doc fellowship at Zhejiang University. However, in October 2009, a Beijing court had sentenced him to four-and-a-half years in prison for “extortion” and “intentional injury” for an altercation with a man at Beijing Union University who had sexually harassed Liu’s wife. Following his release from prison, Liu did some projects with former classmates or helped lawyer friends with reviewing case files in order to make a living. As Liu had a criminal conviction, it had become very difficult for him to work until he met Zhou Shifeng, after which he began working as an assistant with Beijing Fengrui Law Firm.
Further Information
China: Free Rights Lawyers, Respect Rule of Law, July 7, 2016, CHRD (中文)
Politically Charged Arrests in China Escalate Persecution of Rights Lawyers, January 14, 2016, CHRD
Individuals Affected by July 10 Crackdown on Rights Lawyers, July 16, 2015, CHRD