(Minghui.org) The family of a pharmacist facing trial for suing former Chinese dictator Jiang Zemin is having serious doubts about an attorney termination letter that the detention center claimed to be written by him.
Mr. Xu Changhong was arrested after he filed a lawsuit against Jiang for launching the persecution of Falun Gong that resulted in his past arrests and detentions. His family hired a well-known human rights lawyer to defend him, but the detention center claimed that Mr. Xu had terminated his legal representation when the lawyer tried to visit him on December 22.
Mr. Xu's family told the lawyer that they didn't believe that he'd drop his lawyer. They suspect that the letter was either forged by the detention center or he had been forced to sign such a document.
Lawyer Barred from Reviewing Client's Case Document
Mr. Xu, 48, is a pharmacist with Xianning Hospital in Hebei Province. Both he and his wife had been detained on multiple occasions since the persecution of Falun Gong began in 1999.
He filed a lawsuit against Jiang in June of this year, only to be taken away from work one month later. The local procuratorate approved his arrest in early September, and his family soon hired Mr. Tang Tianhao to defend him.
Mr. Tang visited Xian'an District Procuratorate on December 22, but the receptionist declined his request to review the case document, saying that he was not a local attorney.
He returned hours later, and the same receptionist gave a different excuse this time, saying that no one had access to the case documents as the person in charge was out of town on a business trip.
A Suspicious “Attorney Termination Letter”
Mr. Tang went to the detention center later that day and was shocked to learn that his client had terminated his legal representation. Guard Zhen Xiangyang flashed a piece of paper and claimed it was a carbon copy of the attorney termination letter that Mr. Xu supposedly wrote earlier that day. Mr. Tang asked to take a picture of the document, but was refused.
Mr. Xu's family felt very suspicious after Mr. Tang told them what happened. They didn't believe that he would forgo legal counsel without consulting them first.
Mr. Tang visited the detention center again the next day and requested to see his client. Guard Zhen and Director Han declined his meeting request and also refused to allow him to photocopy the supposed termination letter.
Unable to see Mr. Xu, his family and lawyer are left in limbo and unsure of how to proceed to defend him.
Background
In 1999, Jiang Zemin, as head of the Chinese Communist Party, overrode other Politburo standing committee members and launched the violent suppression of Falun Gong.
The persecution has led to the deaths of many Falun Gong practitioners over the past 16 years. More have been tortured for their belief and even killed for their organs. Jiang Zemin is directly responsible for the inception and continuation of the brutal persecution.
Under his personal direction, the Chinese Communist Party established an extralegal security organ, the “610 Office,” on June 10, 1999. The organization overrides police forces and the judicial system in carrying out Jiang's directive regarding Falun Gong: to ruin their reputations, cut off their financial resources, and destroy them physically.
Chinese law allows for citizens to be plaintiffs in criminal cases, and many practitioners are now exercising that right to file criminal complaints against the former dictator.
Related report:Pharmacist Detained and Tortured for Filing Complaint Against Jiang Zemin
