Under heavy surveillance and sporadic soft detention

Zheng Enchong represented the injured parties in over 500 cases of forced eviction stemming from urban redevelopment in Shanghai, after which his license to practice was revoked. He was sentenced to three years' imprisonment on charges of providing state secrets to foreigners. Since his release, he has been subject to strict, on-going surveillance, and physical abuse.

Zheng Enchong was born on Sept. 2, 1950. During the Cultural Revolution, he was sent to Heilongjiang province in the far north of China as part of the army corps. When he returned to Shanghai in 1973, he worked in a factory during the day until he was able to complete his secondary education. He studied economics at Fudan University, and taught himself law. In 1993, he passed the bar and became a licensed lawyer. In 2005, Mr. Zheng received the German Association of Judges’ Human Rights Award. In 2008, Mr. Zheng was one of the original signers of Charter 08, a manifesto calling for fundamental changes in China, including an independent legal system, freedom of association, and the elimination of one-party rule.

Mr. Zheng’s first clients included over 500 families who were displaced without compensation during Shanghai redevelopment projects. In the process of defending their property rights, Mr. Zheng publicly suggested that prominent Shanghai officials were approving redevelopment projects in order to unlawfully enrich themselves.

In 2001, Mr. Zheng’s license was invalidated by the Shanghai authorities. Although he appealed the decision, his appeal was never ruled on. Mr. Zheng continued taking cases; in China, any citizen can represent another in court, although a personal representative has fewer privileges than a lawyer. In 2003, Mr. Zheng agreed to provide legal advice to a group of dispossessed Shanghai residents who accused local officials of taking bribes in return for the property their homes had been on.

Soon afterwards, Mr. Zheng was arrested and charged with “illegally providing state secrets outside of the country” under Criminal Law article 111; the two documents at issue, which he had faxed to the advocacy organization Human Rights in China, were his own personal account of police actions and a newspaper article about a protest.

Mr. Zheng was found guilty and sentenced to three years imprisonment, followed by a year of deprivation of political rights. During his imprisonment, he was forced to work 14 hours a day and severely beaten. As a result of his criminal conviction, his license to practice law is now permanently revoked.

Mr. Zheng was released on June 5, 2006, having served his full sentence. He has continued to provide legal advice to people in housing disputes. This has earned him the ire of local authorities, who have responded with harsh extra-judicial measures. Plainclothes officers are stationed on the landing outside his door. Police surveillance cameras tape visitors at the door, in the hallway, and in the elevator of his building. Whether or not he is allowed to leave his apartment is unpredictable.

On July 24, 2007, Mr. Zheng and his wife attempted to attend the trial of a developer charged with fraud and bribery. At the courthouse, Mr. Zheng was surrounded by six police officers, who knocked him to the ground, dragged him away, and beat him for an hour, before placing him and his wife under house arrest at the home of a relative’s until after the conclusion of the trial.

Since being released from prison in 2006, Mr. Zheng has been summoned for questioning by the police well over 70 times, with his home frequently searched and personal items confiscated. Among the most egregious examples, on June 17, 2009, police slapped Mr. Zheng, stripped him of his clothing, and held lit cigarettes to his lips and eyelids. After being summoned on Dec. 30, 2009, Mr. Zheng noted that the five hours of questioning he had endured were shorter than the 10 to 12 hour interrogations to which he has become accustomed.

Last updated March 1, 2011

Zheng Enchong, “Xin Chai Qian Tiao Li Dao Tui Mei You Chu Lu” (“New Demolition Regulations are a Step Back, There’s No Way Out”), Epoch Times, Jan. 2, 2011, available at http://epochtimes.com/gb/11/1/2/n3130691.htm.

Human Rights Council, Report of the Special Rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers, Leandro Despouy, Addendum, Situations in specific countries or territories, ¶89, U.N. Doc. A/HRC/8/4/Add.1 (May 28, 2008), available at http://www2.ohchr.org/english/bodies/hrcouncil/8session/reports.htm.