Detained Chinese lawyers plead guilty to disorder charges - state media

Chinese human rights lawyers arrested during a recent crackdown have pleaded guilty to a range of offences including inciting disorder, the country’s main Communist Party newspaper reported on Sunday.

Nine lawyers and four other staff members at the Fengrui legal firm have been charged with disrupting trial proceedings and violating court rules. Zhou Shifeng, the director of the firm, has pleaded guilty, the People’s Daily reported.

Nearly 200 lawyers and activists have been detained or questioned during a campaign launched by public security bureaus this month, with the Communist Party maintaining a zero-tolerance approach to dissent.

Human rights group Amnesty International called the crackdown “unprecedented” and said on Thursday 31 of those detained remained in custody.

The People’s Daily accused the group from the Fengrui firm of orchestrating protests outside courts to help secure favourable verdicts for clients. The Xinhua state news agency, in a separate report on Sunday, described such behaviour as “very close to blackmailing”.

The People’s Daily said many of the suspects had admitted to hyping up and politicising ordinary legal cases in order to attract international attention.

“Many of the criminal suspects have confirmed that the Fengrui legal firm pursued sensitive cases, and if they were not sensitive or prominent enough, they would think of ways to stir them up,” the People’s Daily said.