The wife of jailed Chinese rights lawyer Wang Quanzhang Friday pleaded to be allowed to see him just once nearly four years after he disappeared during a crackdown on lawyers and activists.
Wang, 42, was sentenced to four-and-a-half years in prison in January following a December trial that took place behind closed doors.
A prominent lawyer who defended political activists and victims of land seizures, Wang disappeared in a sweep aimed at courtroom critics of Communist authorities known as the “709” clampdown because the arrests started on July 9, 2015.
Charged in January 2016 with “subversion of state power”, Wang was the last of more than 200 lawyers and activists arrested in the crackdown to be tried or released.
“My concern is that from the time he was arrested, no one has seen Wang Quanzhang, not even the lawyers that we hired,” his wife Li Wenzu told AFP.
“All I want is to see him one time to know that he is still alive,” she said.
Wang was transferred on Monday from detention in the northern city of Tianjin to Linyi jail in the eastern province of Shandong, according to a letter from prison authorities handed to his sister, Li said.
The notice was accompanied by a memo which said prison facilities were being upgraded so no visits were allowed, Li said.
Li, who has actively protested against her husband’s detention, has repeatedly demanded proof of life from the authorities.
She was placed under de facto house arrest the day before Wang’s December 26 trial to prevent her from attending.
The Supreme Court, in a special En Banc session held on Friday, issued a writ of amparo and habeas data in favor of the National Union of Peoples’ Lawyers (NUPL).
The Court also referred the petition of NUPL, et al. to the Presiding Justice of the Court of Appeals, who was directed to cause the immediate raffle of the said case among the appellate justices. The CA was further directed to hear the petition on May 14, 2019 and to decide the case within 10 days after submission of the case for decision.
The Court also ordered respondents President Rodrigo Duterte, who was impleaded in his capacity as the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the Philippines, National Security Adviser (Ret.) Gen. Hermogenes C. Esperon, Jr., et al. to make a verified return of the writ of amparo and habeas data on or before May 8, 2019, and to comment on NUPL, et al.’s petition before the said date.
In its petition, NUPL, et al. sought for the issuance of the writ of amparo and habeas data for their protection, claiming that their rights to life, liberty and security have been violated and continue to be violated through the persistent threats and harassment and red tagging allegedly done to vilify and intimidate them and prevent them from pursuing their profession as members of the Bar and from practicing their advocacy as peoples’ lawyers serving the poor and the marginalized. They claimed that some NUPL members have died in the line of duty.
The petitioners are likewise asking the Court to compel the respondents, under the writ of habeas data, to provide them with copies of all the facts, information, statements, records, photographs, and other evidence, documentary or otherwise, pertaining to each of them in the respondents’ files and records.
In particular, NUPL alleged that it was branded as an “enemy” by the Philippine Army in 2013. In 2014, NUPL-Vice President Atty. Catherine Salucon allegedly experienced heavy surveillance and harassment and that her paralegal, William Bugatti, was killed hours after they had parted ways after a court hearing. In 2018, NUPL-Negros Secretary General Atty. Benjamin Ramos was killed in Kabankalan, Negros Occidental. They cited other several incidents of threats, harassment and intimidation due to their work and advocacy.
Also named as respondents were National Defense Secretary (Ret.) Gen. Delfin N. Lorenzana, AFP Chief of Staff Gen. Benjamin R. Madrigal, Jr., AFP Deputy Commander for Intelligence Brig. Gen. Fernando T. Trinidad, AFP Intelligence Service of the Philippines (ISAFP) Chief Maj. Gen. Erwin Bernard Neri, Philippine Army Commanding General Lt. Gen. Macairog S. Alberto, and AFP Deputy Chief of Staff for Civil Military Operations Maj. Gen. Antonio G. Parlade, Jr.
(G.R. 246175, NUPL, et al. v. President Duterte, et al., May 3, 2019)
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Press Statement
3 May 2019
5pm
Re info that Philippine Supreme Court granted in favor of NUPL a writ of Amparo & Habeas Data against the vicious redtagging by the military and baseless government accusation of involvement in an “ouster matrix”:
We are certainly pleased and somewhat relieved that the High Court has favorably acted upon our petition for protection of the life, liberty and security of NUPL members who are after all, officers of the court.
It came at a propitious time when the 2018 Bar results came out today welcoming our new colleagues in the profession. It gives our new lawyers a veritable food for thought while they rightfully celebrate.
It also sends a strong and clear signal to the military and government officials alike, as well as their proxies or agents, that there are certain well-defined rules of evidence not incompatible with basic fairness, decency, common sense and logic that must be observed.
While this is just a start of an intense judicial battle and tedious procedure, we are grateful that the Court heeded our supplication to be given judicial shield and a potential relief from reckless accusations, malicious labelling and vicious attacks in different forms and guises.
Its subtext is as unequivocal – incessant redtagging, personal mudslinging and contrived narratives will be subjected to judicial restraint and accountability.#
Iranian lawyer and women’s rights activist Nasrin Sotoudeh’s heartbreaking letters from prison reveal the trauma inflicted on families by the government that claims to protect them.
Nasrin Sotoudeh is a lawyer who has never shied away from doing what’s right in Iran. In her long and impressive career, she has exposed the injustices of the death penalty and campaigned for children’s rights. Most recently, she defied degrading laws that force girls as young as nine to wear a hijab or face prison, flogging or a fine. Nasrin has been sentenced to a total of 38 years and 148 lashes after two unfair trials because she demanded choice for women and girls. She will have to serve 17 years of this sentence.
Nasrin Sotoudeh is also a mother of two. Her commitment to justice and equality for her clients set Iran’s authorities against her. They have thrown her in jail twice: once in 2010 and now again in 2018. Both times, Nasrin was torn from her beloved children – and her children from their brave and loving mother. Over that period, she wrote a number of letters from prison to her son Nima, now aged 11 and her daughter Mehraveh, now 19. As these excerpts show, Nasrin’s anguish at being what she is – someone who must defend what’s right at all costs – makes her question her own choices as a mother. It is an unjust situation wrought not by her choices, but by a repressive government determined to break her. As many would agree, Nasrin is being the best mother she can be, by showing her children that truth and justice are principles worth fighting for – and that being a good mother doesn’t mean choosing between your values and your kids.
— Bar Human Rights Committee of England & Wales (@BarHumanRights) May 2, 2019
148 lashes on her body and nearly 4 decades in prison. This is the awful punishment #NasrinSotoudeh will face for peacefully advocating for women’s rights in Iran. But our voices can help #FreeNasrin and others like her: sign the petition! https://t.co/4czNLCy3dU
Quand les Bâtonniers s’engagent pour notre Consœur Nasrin Sotoudeh auprès des politiques c est un combat commun qui devient médiatique et porteur d espoirs pour sa libération… https://t.co/gU8tYPvNGF
— Gwenaelle VAUTRIN-ALLAINMAT (@vautringwenaell) May 3, 2019
Nasrin Sotoudeh, avvocato, è condannata a 38 anni di carcere e a 148 frustate per aver difese donne che rifiutano di portare il velo in pubblico. L’Iran ricordi che è una grande civiltà oggi tradita pic.twitter.com/CfbbZ6Acbf
IAPL Monitoring Committee on Attacks on Lawyers 