Detained China human rights lawyer ‘confesses’: state media
BEIJING: A prominent Chinese human rights lawyer has pleaded guilty a week after being detained in a major crackdown on legal activists, state media said.
Zhou Shifeng is one of more than 130 lawyers detained or called in for questioning by state security bodies this month, according to tallies by rights groups.
The lawyer provided legal aid to families of children poisoned by milk powder from a powerful dairy firm, and this year defended an 81-year-old writer detained for criticising the ruling Communist party.
Zhou has reportedly not been able to meet a family-appointed defense lawyer. The official Xinhua news agency said late on Saturday that he ‘admitted guilt’ and pleaded for a ‘second chance’.
“Some things about my actions at the law firm were illegal... my mistakes were serious,” the report cited Zhou as saying, apparently while in police custody.
Xinhua said nine other lawyers connected to Zhou’s law firm Fengrui had been detained along with several associates, but did not specify what crime they are suspected of committing.
The detained lawyers ‘gave interviews to foreign media, spreading opinions attacking the party and the government, slandering the legal system and other such negative views,’ it added.
State broadcaster CCTV showed ‘confessions’ from Zhou and several colleagues in a report lasting nearly 40 minutes. It said the lawyers had been detained after repeatedly ‘creating nuisance’ in court by arguing, making recordings and taking photographs. AFP