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On July 15,Human Rights lawyers Li Subin and Wu Chenglian were invited by the EU Parliament Human Rights Committee to testify on the issues of religious freedom and rule of law.
Wu Chenglian surveyed the changing landscape of religious persecution:
In the case of Shanxi Linfen Church, 10 church leaders were arrested and sentenced. Five were summarily sentenced to Re-Education through labor. The other five stood trial, and were sentenced to 3-7 years in prison for crimes of “assembling a crowd to disturb the traffic order” and other unrelated claims.
In a severe case in Xinjiang last year, Uyghur Christian Alimujiang Yimiti, was sentenced to 15 years in prison, for allegedly “leaking state secrets to a foreign individual.” The Chinese Government uses these tactics to sidestep the issue of religious freedom.
Li Subin specifically cited the re-disappearance of human rights attorney Gao Zhisheng, and the torture of female lawyer, Ni Yulan, who was imprisoned twice and beaten until paralyzed and homeless. He further noted the arbitrary revocation of Liu Wei’s and Tang Jitian’s lawyer licenses in April, highlighting the need for lawyers to be able to defend their own rights to practice law in the courts.
