(Minghui.org) A human rights lawyer in Beijing was retaliated against by the authorities for his continued representation of Falun Gong practitioners, a spiritual group that has been persecuted by the communist regime since 1999.
After the hearing of Mr. Wang Xianghui, a Li County, Hebei Province resident, on November 21, 2018, the Li County Court filed a complaint against lawyer Dong Qianyong with the Beijing Bureau of Justice for his “inappropriate speech” during the hearing, asserting the lack of legal basis for the prosecution of Falun Gong practitioners.
Pressured by the Beijing Bureau of Justice, the local bar association has begun a formal investigation of Mr. Dong, a partner at Daoheng Law Firm in Beijing.
Mr. Wang, the Falun Gong practitioner represented by Mr. Dong, was sentenced to 21 months in December 2018. He previously served 11 years in prison, also for his faith.
This isn't the first time that Mr. Dong has been retaliated against by the authorities for his representation of Falun Gong practitioners. He was targeted during the “709 crackdown” in 2015, when the Chinese communist regime launched a series of raids of more than 200 human rights lawyers, legal assistants and human rights activists starting on July 9 that summer.
Mr. Dong was physically assaulted by the bailiffs and barred from the courtroom during a hearing for Falun Gong practitioners in 2016.
Several other lawyers from his law firm also had their professional licenses suspended for representing dissidents.
Hebei Man Sentenced to 21 Months After 11 Years of Imprisonment for His Faith