A lawyer for a suspected crime boss in one of China’s most high-profile trials was jailed yesterday, drawing warnings from lawyers worried that the government is trampling rules in its zeal for convictions.
A court in the southwestern city of Chongqing gave Li Zhuang (李莊) two years and six months in prison on charges of falsifying evidence and jeopardizing testimony.
Police arrested Li, the defense lawyer for alleged gang leader Gong Gangmo (龔剛模), late last year. Li was accused of telling Gong to lie in court by testifying that he was tortured in detention, state media reports said at the time.
The trials of gang leaders accused of reigning over the hilly, smog-shrouded industrial hub of Chongqing using robbery, extortion and graft have captivated Chinese media, burnishing the image of the city’s ambitious Communist Party chief, former Chinese commerce minister Bo Xilai (薄熙來).
However, Chinese lawyers have complained that officials zealous to score convictions have trampled on legal rules, and the rights of Li to a fair trial. Chinese newspapers have dubbed the case “Lawyer fake-gate.”
Chinese criminal defense lawyers have complained for years that laws give scant protection for the accused and their advocates, and in particular that provisions on evidence fabrication are vague and open to abuse by police.
Zhang Kai (張剴), a Beijing lawyer who has been campaigning for Li, said the sentencing set a bad precedent, threatening to further limit access to the law for people charged with serious crimes.
“Some people have said Li Zhuang was helping criminal gangs. But all we are trying to do is help the development of a proper legal system,” he told reporters by telephone.
Li has denied the charges against him, news reports have said. Chongqing’s legal authorities have likewise denied any wrongdoing.
Li’s lawyer, Chen Youxi (陳有西), earlier told the China Daily that that he would appeal if convicted.
Chinese courts fall under Communist Party control and rarely reject prosecution accusations, especially in politically sensitive cases such as serious crimes or for dissidents.
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