July 9, 2019
The world was shocked by the mass detention of Chinese human right lawyers on July 9, 2015 –– in what became known as the “709 Incident.” Following the secret sentencing of “709” lawyer Wang Quanzhang (王全璋), who was tried for the crime of “subversion of state power,” people thought that the “709 Incident,” at least for the time being, should have come to an end. But in fact, the opposite is true. The relevant authorities not only have not ended their persecution of human rights lawyers; on the contrary, they have intensified their efforts. After the roundup of human rights lawyers in the “709 Incident” in July 2015, four additional human rights lawyers, Jiang Tianyong (江天勇) Li Yuhan (李昱函), Yu Wensheng (余文生), and Chen Jiahong (陈家鸿) were detained, one after another, and even more human rights lawyers such as Liu Zhengqing (刘正清), Sui Muqing (隋牧青), Tan Yongpei (覃永沛), Wen Donghai (文东海), Chen Keyun (陈科云) and Liu Xiaoyuan (刘晓原) had their professional licenses to practice law revoked and canceled. Moreover, authorities throughout the country subjected human rights lawyers to innumerable administrative punishments and professional disciplinary actions, and filed court cases to investigate lawyers. Today, we once again commemorate the human rights disaster that took place in mainland China four years ago, and celebrate human rights lawyers who have made great sacrifices to defend freedom, democracy, the rule of law and human rights.
Four years ago, when the relevant authorities invoked “the law” to persecute and prosecute Chinese human rights lawyers, we human rights lawyers firmly believed that these unjust, illegal arrests and trials could not achieve a victory in the spheres of public opinion and morality. It was impossible to eliminate the ideals of the pursuit of freedom, dignity, and rule of law present in the hearts of the majority of the people. History is confirming our prediction with its most selfless attitude and standpoint. In the past four years, although the relevant authorities have exhausted all means to discredit human rights lawyers or force detained human rights lawyers to confess guilt, unexpectedly, those human rights lawyers are receiving more and more respect and attention from the people. The deeds of lawyers such as Gao Zhisheng (高智晟), Tang Jingling (唐荊陵), Tang Jitian (唐吉田), Jiang Tianyong (江天勇), Liu Wei (刘巍), and others are inspiring one group of human rights lawyers after the next to continue to bravely advance in pursuit of our ideals. Even though relevant authorities have expelled some human rights lawyers from the legal profession, more human rights lawyers are appearing everywhere; and although the judicial administration departments have forced many lawyers and law firms to demonstrate their acceptance of those rotten and insipid ideologies, in fact, more lawyers are recognizing that we are pursuing freedom, equity, and justice, and that these are our values.
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Statement by the China Human Rights Lawyers Group on the Fourth Anniversary of the ‘709 Incident’
UN Experts: Speak Out on Legislative Measures Restricting Rights of Lawyers in China
https://thediplomat.com/2019/07/1413-days-and-counting-li-wenzus-fight-for-her-husbands-freedom/
https://www.rights-practice.org/blog/li-wenzu-and-the-resistance-of-the-709-wives
https://news.rthk.hk/rthk/en/component/k2/1467469-20190709.htm
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/709_crackdown
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/China_Human_Rights_Lawyers_Concern_Group
http://www.chrlawyers.hk/en/content/%E9%A6%96%E9%A0%81
http://www.epochtimes.com/gb/19/7/9/n11373388.htm (CHINESE/ENGLISH)
https://www.ntdtv.com/b5/2019/07/09/a102618677.html (CHINESE)
http://www.epochtimes.com/b5/19/7/4/n11365131.htm (CHINESE)
https://news.rthk.hk/rthk/ch/component/k2/1467484-20190709.htm (CANTONESE)
https://twitter.com/WilsonLeungWS/status/1148597227377573893
Protest in Hong Kong, July 9, 2019
(Wilson Leung Facebook, 9/7/19)
今天為「709大抓捕」的四周年，關注組在香港終審法院前舉行了7分09秒的律師默站，期間讀出了兩封由709四姐妹（王峭嶺、李文足、原珊珊及劉二敏）和 余文生妻子 許豔 所撰寫給香港人的信。
全文如下：
許豔 – http://bit.ly/2JnKoo0
709四姐妹 – http://bit.ly/30l7hy3
Today for the 709th year of the ” 709 manhunt the attention group held a 7-Minute-09-second lawyer’s station in front of the Hong Kong court of final appeal, and the 709 sisters were read in the period. A letter written to Hong Kong people by steep, li wen-FA, original Susan and Liu min-min) and the wife of yu wen-Sheng.
The full text is as follows:
XU-http://bit.ly/2JnKoo0
709 four sisters-http://bit.ly/30l7hy3
IAPL Monitoring Committee on Attacks on Lawyers 