China has revoked the attorney’s licenses of two human rights lawyers who defended a follower of the banned Falun Gong spiritual group, in a case that has caused concern among rights groups.
Beijing city justice authorities said the action was taken against lawyers Tang Jitian (唐吉田) and Liu Wei (劉巍) for “disrupting court order and interfering with the normal conduct of litigation activities.”
The announcement was posted late on Friday on the Web site of the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Justice.
Legal experts have said previously the license revocation could be a first for China and it comes amid increasing concern by rights group over what they say is a wide official clampdown on human rights lawyers.
The accusations arose after the two represented a practitioner of Falun Gong — the spiritual movement labeled as an illegal, “evil” cult in China — in April last year in Sichuan Province.
The lawyers walked out of the courtroom after deciding they could no longer execute their defense because of constant interruption by the judge, who was apparently being directed by a man in the courtroom using eye contact, Tang said previously.
In a statement released yesterday, Human Rights in China said Tang told the New York-based rights group that judge Li Xudong (李旭東) allowed an unidentified observer to videotape the proceedings in violation of court rules.
Li also pounded the gavel loudly during their defense statements, interrupting them more than ten times.
Neither of the lawyers could be immediately reached for comment yesterday.
Sharon Hom, Human Rights in China’s (HRIC) executive director, called the decision “a mockery of justice and the rule of law.”
“HRIC urges the relevant authorities to review and adjudicate the case with impartiality and fairness,” she said in the group’s statement.
Falun Gong is an extremely sensitive issue for Beijing.
China’s government banned the group after thousands of practitioners silently converged in Beijing to air their grievances over alleged persecution, showing their organizational might.
Rights groups say its members have been imprisoned and tortured, while the group itself issues regular reports of members dying in police custody.
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