[Briefing] COVID-19 Arrests & Victims Threatened for Seeking Compensation; Lawyer Punished

May 1, 2020 Comments Off

China Human Rights Briefing

April 24-30, 2020

Chinese Authorities Threaten COVID-19 Victims & Families Seeking Compensation

(April 30, 2020) Chinese police intimidated and harassed potential plaintiffs in litigation against Wuhan and Hubei governments for failure to release vital information about the novel coronavirus in a timely manner, which resulted in deaths and damages. Authorities pressured victims and families to abandon efforts to seek legal consul online, give media interviews, or contact lawyers offering legal aid. (Read full story)

Retired Professor Arrested for Calling COVID-19 “CCP Virus”

(April 28, 2020) Beijing police formally arrested retired professor Chen Zhaozhi (陈兆志) on April 14 for “picking quarrels and provoking trouble” over his online speech about the COVID-19 pandemic. The former Beijing University of Science and Technology professor had posted comments online, including reportedly writing “Wuhan pneumonia is not a Chinese virus but Chinese Communist Party virus” on social media. Chen told his lawyer during their first meeting on April 24 that police had tried to force him to confess but he refused. He said he was politically persecuted for exercising his freedom of speech. (Read full story)

China Detains Three Youths for Documenting Censored Information about COVID-19

(April 27, 2020) Three young volunteers of “Terminus2049” Github website documenting censored news and information about COVID-19, Chen Mei (陈玫), Cai Wei (蔡伟), and Cai’s girlfriend Xiao Tang (小唐) went missing on April 19, 2020 and later confirmed detained by Beijing police, according to their family, friends and employers. (Read full story)

Chinese Human Rights Lawyer Penalized for Defending Another Rights Lawyer

(April 24, 2020) The Chengdu City Lawyers’ Association, a state-run agency, handed out a “professional reprimand” to discipline human rights lawyer Lu Siwei (卢思位) on April 24, 2020. The Discipline Oversight Committee of the Association said in a written document that lawyer Lu violated the rules by representing another human rights lawyer, Chen Jiahong, based in Guangxi region, who has been detained and charged with “inciting subversion of state power.” The written reprimand will stay on lawyer Lu’s record, which may affect him during the annual review of his qualifications for keeping his lawyer’s license. (Read full story)

Contacts

Renee Xia, Director (Mandarin, English), +1 863 866 1012, reneexia[at]nchrd.org

Frances Eve, Deputy Director of Research (English), +1 661 240 9177, franceseve[at]nchrd.org

Leo Lan, Research & Advocacy Consultant (Mandarin, Cantonese, English), +852 9623 3023, leolan[at]nchrd.org