(Minghui.org) Lawyers representing nine Falun Gong practitioners from Cangzhou City have been harassed and threatened by Chinese Communist Party (CCP) officials while trying to carry out their duties.
The lawyers submitted a written request to have their clients' cases dismissed. They argued that it was their clients' constitutional right to practice Falun Gong and to share their experiences with each other.
Officials from the Cangzhou Political and Legal Affairs Committee and the 610 Office ordered the Bureau of Justice to put pressure on the lawyers to stop them from representing their clients.
One of the lawyers is from Baoding City. The director at his law firm “talked” to him twice in an attempt to force him to drop the case.
Officials from the 610 Office also tried to discredit and incite hatred towards Falun Gong by hanging banners on the streets, and holding events in schools and workplaces to slander the practice.
The lawyers have refused to give into the pressure, and are determined to protect their clients' basic rights.
The nine practitioners include Ms. Li Li, Ms. Cao Yanxiang, Ms. Kang Lanying, Ms. Zhao Junru, Mr. Chang Shouxuan, Mr. Xu Kai, Mr. Hou Dongliang, Mr. Zhao Xiang, and Mr. Liu Lixin.
They were arrested on August 17, 2014, and have been held for over eight months. More than two thousand residents have signed a petition calling for their release.
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