NTD: The Beijing Lawyers Association is like America’s Bar Association, granting or denying lawyers a license to practice law.
But human rights lawyers say the association stops them from taking on cases that the ruling regime considers sensitive.
Last month the association refused to renew the licenses of lawyer Tang Jitian and more than a dozen lawyers from his Anhui law firm. Mr Tang has taken on sensitive cases, such as those of persecuted Falun Gong practitioners.
Then the night before the sensitive 20th anniversary of the June 4 Tiananmen Square massacre, he was detained without explanation, along with dissidents across the country.
Before his detention he told Sound of Hope Radio by phone that the yearly registration system for lawyers violates China’s laws, and lawyers are denied licenses after upholding basic human rights.
[Tang Jitian, Human Rights Lawyer]:
"The authorities are always saying they want to align with the international community, but they are reversing the progress made in drafting our country’s laws. It’s hard to know what they really want.”
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