The question we ask at AALE is…Are the tax charges trumped up?
I suppose we’ll never know the real answer so it is just a matter of celebrating the fact that Xu Zhiyong is out of detention and in the public eye again .. even if he isn’t alowed out of Beijing at the moment
AFP write
China rights lawyer may evade prosecution: attorney
BEIJING ? A leading Chinese rights lawyer suddenly freed from detention may escape prosecution if he pays a fine for tax evasion allegedly committed by the group he co-founded, his attorney said Monday.
Although Xu Zhiyong was allowed to walk out of a Beijing detention centre on Sunday after being locked up since late July, authorities have not abandoned the accusations of tax evasion that led to his detention.
“If Xu pays the fine for tax evasion, it’s likely that he will not face prosecution,” said Zhou Ze, Xu’s lawyer. “I believe he won’t be in other kinds of trouble.”
Chinese tax authorities levied a 1.42-million-yuan (208,000-dollar) fine in July on the legal organisation Gongmeng, which Xu helped found.
Xu himself told AFP that while authorities probed the case, he would be allowed to leave Beijing but would have to get permission first.
“I must be willing to help the judicial authorities as they investigate the case,” Xu told AFP, adding that his colleague Zhang Lu was also freed on Sunday.
Full report at? http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5imN0CurJOJdMk1FMnWStDtqyoD4Q
