Source:
https://scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/1841362/chinese-government-must-ensure-justice-not-corrupted
Comment/ Opinion

Chinese government must ensure that justice is not corrupted

Wang Yu, a human rights lawyer in China was among the number of lawyers and activists detained by Chinese public security forces. Photo: Kyodo

These are confusing times for the rule of law on the mainland. The anti-corruption drive has reached the country's leading court with the investigation of a top judge, yet, at the same time, hundreds of civil rights lawyers have been detained and harassed in an unprecedented crackdown. Upholding the law and ensuring that justice is properly served is the government's stated objective and it has certainly been showing resolve to move in that direction. Hounding those who try to help people assert their rights and seek justice on the pretext that they are "troublemakers", as they have been labelled by officials, does not mesh with such an aim.

A number of the lawyers were from the high-profile Beijing law firm Fengrui, which was among three companies raided by police. The Ministry of Public Security launched the operation against a group it accused of "illegally organising paid protests, hyping public sentiment and fabricating rumours on the internet to sway court decisions". The flouting of laws by officials and pre-determined outcomes of court cases has led lawyers and human rights advocates to resort to online campaigns to seek justice for clients. Until reforms take hold and there is a truly independent judiciary, it is a sensible way to ensure that rights are upheld.