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Detention of Defense Lawyer Prompts Outrage and Solidarity Among Colleagues

Date: 2013-04-05

Dozens of Beijing lawyers have arrived in Jingjiang, Jiangsu province, to protest the detention of prominent defense lawyer Wang Quanzhang (王全璋). Wang, who gained prominence for defending politically sensitive clients including journalist Qi Chinghuai and police officer-turned-activist Wang Dengchao, was ordered by the Jingjiang City People’s Court to serve a ten-day detention for “serious violations of court procedure” following his representation of Falun Gong practitioner Zhu Yanian (朱亚年) at a hearing on April 3. That evening, a group of Wang’s fellow lawyers from Beijing, backed by a growing wave of online supporters, travelled to the Jingjiang courthouse to demand Wang’s immediate release.

Dozens of Beijing lawyers have arrived in Jingjiang, Jiangsu province, to protest the detention of prominent defense lawyer Wang Quanzhang (王全璋). Wang, who gained prominence for defending politically sensitive clients including journalist Qi Chinghuai and police officer-turned-activist Wang Dengchao, was ordered by the Jingjiang City People’s Court to serve a ten-day detention for “serious violations of court procedure”following his representation of Falun Gong practitioner Zhu Yanian (朱亚年) at a hearing on April 3. That evening, a group of Wang’s fellow lawyers from Beijing, backed by a growing wave of online supporters, travelled to the Jingjiang courthouse to demand Wang’s immediate release.

According to the non-government organization Human Rights in China, the Jingjiang City People’s Court confiscated Wang’s mobile phone when he attempted to use it to record an image of original documents that he was submitting for the court’s review during the April 3 hearing. Following the hearing, presiding judge Wang Pin ordered court security officers to take Wang into custody. His detention order was posted on the court’s website 24 hours later, on April 4.

The Committee to Support Chinese Lawyers joins Wang Quanzhang’s fellow lawyers in their demands for his immediate release from detention. For more information, see Human Rights in China’s April 4, 2013 press release on Wang Quanzhang at http://www.hrichina.org/content/6619.