China disbars another human rights lawyer in crackdown’s aftermath
Decision comes a week after detention of another outspoken advocate in southern China
Authorities in China’s southern province of Guangdong have cancelled the legal licence of human rights lawyer Sui Muqing, he said on Tuesday, a week after another prominent rights lawyer was detained following similar punishment.
Since coming to power in 2012, Chinese President Xi Jinping has presided over a sweeping crackdown on dissent, which has seen hundreds of rights lawyers and activists detained and dozens jailed.
“I’ve taken on a lot of relatively high-profile human rights cases,” Sui said. “This is the settling of accounts after the autumn harvest,” he added, using a phrase that means to face the authorities after a movement has ended.
An active and outspoken rights lawyer based in the city of Guangzhou, Sui had regularly defended fellow lawyers and activists charged by the authorities.
Sui said the Guangdong justice bureau unexpectedly called him late on Monday, asking for a meeting the next day, at which officials handed him papers saying he had been disbarred for violating conduct rules for lawyers.
The Guangdong justice bureau did not respond to requests for comment after office hours on Tuesday.