July 11, 2016
More than 140 human rights lawyers in China have endorsed a joint statement calling on Chinese authorities to immediately release lawyer Ren Quanniu, who was arrested late last week on suspicion of “picking quarrels.”
Ren, accused of having circulated rumors online about the alleged rape of his client Zhao Wei while in jail, is currently under criminal detention by police in Zhengzhou, Henan province, pending further investigation, the city’s Public Security Bureau said on a Weibo posting.
But Ren on Monday flatly rejected the accusation, insisting that he was only exercising his legitimate right to practice law, according to lawyer Chang Boyang, who initiated the petition.
“He [Ren] said those remarks on his Weibo account were indeed posted by him. But he has fabricated nothing,” Chang quoted Ren as saying after their private meeting on Monday morning.
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