Link
August 23, 2009
BEIJING — Chinese authorities unexpectedly released three political activists from detention on Sunday, including one whose case had drawn global attention.
Officials offered no reason for the releases, but they occurred one day after the new American ambassador to China, former Gov. Jon M. Huntsman Jr. of Utah, arrived in Beijing.
The government did not say whether it had also suspended criminal tax-evasion charges made last week against the most prominent of the freed men, Xu Zhiyong, a public-interest lawyer, that could result in a prison sentence of seven years were he to be convicted.
The prosecution of Mr. Xu in particular has attracted scrutiny abroad because of his role in other cases that are seen as a test of the Chinese legal system’s fairness. Mr. Xu, 36, and a co-worker, Zhuang Lu, were released more than three weeks after they were seized in their homes on July 29. The authorities also shut down Mr. Xu’s Gongmeng legal center, also known as the Open Constitution Initiative, from which Mr. Xu and others had taken on cases against government authorities.
Recently, Mr. Xu’s center represented parents whose children were sickened by chemical-tainted milk, a regulatory scandal that embarrassed the government and led to the collapse of one of the nation’s biggest dairy companies.
In a separate case, Beijing authorities also released Ilham Tohti, an economist, Internet activist and ethnic Uighur detained after deadly riots erupted in the western Xinjiang region in early July.
Mr. Tohti, 39, ran a Web site called Uighur Online, a popular forum for ethnic Uighurs, who live mostly in Xinjiang, to discuss issues important to them. After the July rioting, Xinjiang’s governor, Nur Bekri, charged that the site had helped foment the violence by spreading rumors. The Web site has since been closed.
The government has accused Mr. Xu of evading taxes on a $100,000 grant that Yale University gave the Gongmeng center for legal programs. The charges are widely regarded by outsiders as punishment for Mr. Xu’s advocacy of the rule of law.
China’s court system is controlled by the ruling Communist Party, and legal decisions — especially in cases with important political or social ramifications — are often regarded as skirting written law to reflect the dictates of party officials.
The accusation against Mr. Xu was filed during a general crackdown by Chinese authorities on independent activists, and particularly on those activists who receive financing from foreign sources. In a recent speech, China’s justice minister warned lawyers that their primary duty was to support the Communist Party and promote a “harmonious society,” and said that party minders would be sent to law firms to enforce that doctrine.
China scholars and political analysts have speculated for months about whether the crackdown is temporary, perhaps linked to government concerns about disruption of the October celebration of the 60th anniversary of modern China’s founding, or whether it is part of a broader and longer-lasting effort to curtail free speech.
Mr. Xu’s detention and later arrest have surprised many here because his Gongmeng center is regarded as among the most cautious and conservative of China’s small band of public-interest organizations.
While the center has pursued some high-profile cases, it has been careful to work within the parameters of Chinese law and to focus on helping Chinese citizens secure already recognized legal rights.
Showing posts with label ilham tohti. Show all posts
Showing posts with label ilham tohti. Show all posts
Sunday, August 23, 2009
UPDATE ON RELEASE: "China releases reform activists," by Kathrin Hille, The Financial Times
Link
August 23, 2009
China has released two prominent reform proponents in a twist following its recent crackdown on activists.
Xu Zhiyong, a law scholar and organiser of one of the country’s largest legal aid groups, who had been accused of tax evasion, and Zhuang Lu, his assistant, were released on bail on Sunday.
Ilham Tohti, an economist who belongs to the Uighur ethnic group and who was detained shortly after the July 5 riots in Urumqi, capital of the western region of Xinjiang, also returned home.
The detentions of Mr Xu and Mr Tohti drew widespread criticism because, although outspoken, both academics are committed to reform within the system.
Mr Xu’s lawyers say the charge of tax evasion lacks evidence but is connected to the fact that his non-government organisation, the Open Constitution Initiative, is registered as a company and has been accused of failing to pay its taxes properly.
China’s opaque legal system, where decisions in cases regarded as important or politically sensitive are frequently made by Communist party officials rather than judges, makes it hard to tell whether Mr Xu’s release lowers the risk of prosecution.
Li Xiongbing, a lawyer working with the Open Constitution Initiative, said he believed that it was now much less likely that Mr Xu would be indicted. But Zhou Ze, one of Mr Xu’s lawyers, said: “We don’t know what will happen to the case.”
The authorities' unusual move indicates that the government is seeking to avoid unnecessary damage to its reputation from the recent crackdown.
Mr Xu had been taken from his home by police on July 29, but his employer had only received notice of his formal arrest on charges of tax evasion last Monday.
The Open Constitution Initiative was closed last month after tax authorities fined the group Rmb1.4m ($205,000, €143,000, £124,000), saying it had failed to pay its taxes. Many non-governmental groups in China choose to register as enterprises to avoid the difficulties of getting official approval as an NGO. This imposes a heavier tax burden on them and makes them vulnerable to accusations on accounting errors.
Mr Xu rose to prominence for his fight against detention without a legal basis and other cases where the state violates or fails to protect an individual’s rights.
Lawyers working with the Open Constitution Initiative have tried to sue for compensation on behalf of parents of children who died or fell ill from melamine-tainted milk powder.
If found guilty of tax evasion, Mr Xu could face a sentence of up to seven years.
Mr Tohti was detained the week after the July 5 race riots that killed close to 200 people, most of them members of the majority Han group, according to the government.
He has done consultancy work for the government before. On his blog, he had criticised the government’s economic and social policies in Xinjiang, the Uighur minority’s home region.
August 23, 2009
China has released two prominent reform proponents in a twist following its recent crackdown on activists.
Xu Zhiyong, a law scholar and organiser of one of the country’s largest legal aid groups, who had been accused of tax evasion, and Zhuang Lu, his assistant, were released on bail on Sunday.
Ilham Tohti, an economist who belongs to the Uighur ethnic group and who was detained shortly after the July 5 riots in Urumqi, capital of the western region of Xinjiang, also returned home.
The detentions of Mr Xu and Mr Tohti drew widespread criticism because, although outspoken, both academics are committed to reform within the system.
Mr Xu’s lawyers say the charge of tax evasion lacks evidence but is connected to the fact that his non-government organisation, the Open Constitution Initiative, is registered as a company and has been accused of failing to pay its taxes properly.
China’s opaque legal system, where decisions in cases regarded as important or politically sensitive are frequently made by Communist party officials rather than judges, makes it hard to tell whether Mr Xu’s release lowers the risk of prosecution.
Li Xiongbing, a lawyer working with the Open Constitution Initiative, said he believed that it was now much less likely that Mr Xu would be indicted. But Zhou Ze, one of Mr Xu’s lawyers, said: “We don’t know what will happen to the case.”
The authorities' unusual move indicates that the government is seeking to avoid unnecessary damage to its reputation from the recent crackdown.
Mr Xu had been taken from his home by police on July 29, but his employer had only received notice of his formal arrest on charges of tax evasion last Monday.
The Open Constitution Initiative was closed last month after tax authorities fined the group Rmb1.4m ($205,000, €143,000, £124,000), saying it had failed to pay its taxes. Many non-governmental groups in China choose to register as enterprises to avoid the difficulties of getting official approval as an NGO. This imposes a heavier tax burden on them and makes them vulnerable to accusations on accounting errors.
Mr Xu rose to prominence for his fight against detention without a legal basis and other cases where the state violates or fails to protect an individual’s rights.
Lawyers working with the Open Constitution Initiative have tried to sue for compensation on behalf of parents of children who died or fell ill from melamine-tainted milk powder.
If found guilty of tax evasion, Mr Xu could face a sentence of up to seven years.
Mr Tohti was detained the week after the July 5 race riots that killed close to 200 people, most of them members of the majority Han group, according to the government.
He has done consultancy work for the government before. On his blog, he had criticised the government’s economic and social policies in Xinjiang, the Uighur minority’s home region.
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