- Lin Qilei was involved in defence of Hong Kong fugitives caught by national coastguard while trying to flee to Taiwan last year
- Lin, who had been hired to represent student Kok Tsz-lun, is third lawyer involved in the cases to have permit revoked
Mainland Chinese authorities have deregistered a third human rights lawyer involved in the defence of Hong Kong fugitives caught by the national coastguard while trying to flee to Taiwan last year.
Lin Qilei revealed on Sunday that the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Justice had written to him saying it had decided to revoke his licence.
The lawyer was hired by the family of university student Kok Tsz-lun, one of 12 Hongkongers arrested and jailed by mainland authorities after trying to flee prosecution in August 2020 over their roles in anti-government protests the year before.
According to the letter, the bureau said the decision to revoke Lin’s licence was due to his inability to secure a job at another firm after the one he headed, Beijing Rui Kai, was deregistered by the authorities for six months.
It said Lin could apply to review the decision within 60 days or launch a legal bid at Tongzhou District People’s Court within six months.
Lin tweeted he was scornful of the authorities’ suggestions and noted he had previously been ignored by the Tongzhou court after attempting to appeal against the move to deregister his law firm.
Two other lawyers, Lu Siwei and Ren Quanniu, who represented family’s of the fugitives, also lost their licences.
