Sichuan Human rights lawyer Lu Siwei received a notification from Chengdu All China Lawyers Association’s Disciplinary Committee for allegedly violating rules while accepting to represent a defendant of a human rights case, and thus will be subjected to disciplinary punishment.
Lawyer Lu specializes in finance laws and criminal defense, and at the same time, took up human rights cases; he was notably among the lawyers who were set to represent one of the defendants in the June 4th Wine Bottle Case and the Pengxi County land seizure case. The disciplinary punishment issues by the Lawyers Association is likely to be associated with Lawyer Lu taking on the case of Lawyer Chen Jiahong, who has been suspected of committing “incitement to subvert state power.”
Lawyer Chen’s charge was probably based on his calligraphy piece against “the evil bureaucracy” and encouraging democracy which he created in April this year, leading to his detainment in Guangxi’s Yulin Detention Center, where Lawyer Lu visited him on 9th May. At the same time, a list of lawyers defending Lawyer Chen began circulating online, which triggered the Chengdu Municipal Bureau of Justice to call for Lawyer Lu to return to Chengdu as soon as possible, and to notify the staff at his law firm not to sign any contract of authorization.
The next day (10th May), the Chengdu Municipal Bureau of Justice received evidence from the Sichuan Department of Justice regarding Lawyer Lu possibly violating professional ethics and the disciplinary code, thus referring the case to the Chengdu All China Lawyers Association. On 4th June, the Lawyers Association’s Disciplinary Committee started investigating the allegations and found that Lawyer Lu violated rules when taking up a case, therefore planning on disciplinary punishment.
According to Lawyer Lu Siwei, the reason for which he became Lawyer Chen’s representing counsel was that, back in June 2018, Chen signed a contract and Letter of Authorisation with Lawyer Lu to represent him in case he allegedly “commits a crime” or encounters criminal prosecution, regardless of which law firm Lawyer Lu is in. Since Lawyer Lu was transitioning between firms, the document has not been stamped.
As of now, in addition to being subjected to disciplinary punishment due to violation of rule, Lu has not been allowed to pass the annual inspection for up to three months by the Lawyers Association for the same reason. Lawyer Lu felt that the punishment did not have a sound legal basis, and was unjust, hence he voluntarily applied for an open hearing at the Chengdu All China Lawyers Association.
All press are welcome to go attend the hearing.
Date: 21 October 2019 (Monday)
Time: 2:00 pm
Venue: Meeting Room, 6/F Chengdu All China Lawyers Association
(6/F, Legal Aid Centre, 11 Shizi Alley, Qingyang, Chengdu, Sichuan)
