The Media Reports on a Famous Beijing Lawyer’s Appeal for Falun Gong

Mr. Gao Zhixu, one of the most well-known lawyers in China, handled many famous cases and offered his services for free to one-third of his clients who were in need. Though Mr. Gao knows all too well the corruption in China's judicial system, when he acted as lawyer for Falun Gong practitioners, he was still shocked at their plight and how they are completely deprived of human rights. Thus, he wrote an open letter to the National People's Congress.

Central News Agency reported on January 3rd that the well-known lawyer Mr. Gao wrote to Wu Bangguo, Chairman of the People's Congress, about the law enforcement department's brutal infringement of Falun Gong practitioners' rights as citizens. He also called on the government to recognize the practitioners' citizenship.

It is rare in China for anyone to stand up in public for Falun Gong practitioners' rights, since the regime has persecuted Falun Gong since 1999.

Hong Kong's Ming Bao reported that Mr. Gao wrote an open letter to Chairman Wu Bangguo of the Chinese People's Congress. He said in the letter that he had received many appeals and letters from Falun Gong practitioners who were tortured in prisons or labour camps. Mr. Gao pointed out that the local government abused Falun Gong practitioners by imprisoning them in labour camps. He said that he "felt extreme sorrow" in his letter to Wu Bangguo.

The Chinese Rights Defenders website expressed an opinion regarding the open letter. It is said that these issues being raised in the open is significant and deeply reveals the serious problems in the Chinese national judicature and the brutal violation of people’s human rights. Therefore, the website has publicly appealed to Chinese citizens to sign their names to support an end to the human rights abuses.

It is reported that by January 2nd there were fifty four signatures to express support, including one from Hu Jia, who has been engaged in protecting Chinese AIDS sufferers’ human rights for a long time.