A wheelchair-bound human rights lawyer and her husband have been jailed in China on charges which included "picking quarrels" and "provoking trouble"; a troubling development for all those law firms clamouring to do business in China.
Beijing-based Ni Yulan, whose work focuses on fighting against government land grabs (including those to make space for the 2008 Olympics development), was arrested together with her husband last year as part of a roundup of activists by the Chinese government. The couple was charged with "picking quarrels, provoking trouble and wilfully destroying private and public property".
The allegations were heard during a closed trial at the end of last year, according to the BBC. And this week the pair was sentenced: Ni Yulan to two years and eight months and her husband to two years. Human rights groups have come out in force to object to jailings on charges they claim were devised by the government to lock up the pair, whose work to assist the victims of land grabs has been a persistent thorn in the government's side. Even the EU has issued a statement to say it's "deeply concerned".
The imprisonments make uncomfortable viewing for the many international law firms scrabbling to get a piece of China's burgeoning economy. Firms such as DLA Piper are ramping up their presence in the country, whilst the firm formerly known as Mallesons has been ever so excited about its ground breaking merger with China's King & Wood.
This latest reminder of the country's dubious human rights record, together with the rumours that Chinese-based lawyers may have to swear an oath of loyalty to the Communist government, may remind firms there's rather more to think about with China than its economic prospects.
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Beijing-based Ni Yulan, whose work focuses on fighting against government land grabs (including those to make space for the 2008 Olympics development), was arrested together with her husband last year as part of a roundup of activists by the Chinese government. The couple was charged with "picking quarrels, provoking trouble and wilfully destroying private and public property".
The allegations were heard during a closed trial at the end of last year, according to the BBC. And this week the pair was sentenced: Ni Yulan to two years and eight months and her husband to two years. Human rights groups have come out in force to object to jailings on charges they claim were devised by the government to lock up the pair, whose work to assist the victims of land grabs has been a persistent thorn in the government's side. Even the EU has issued a statement to say it's "deeply concerned".
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China for law firms |
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China for activists |
This latest reminder of the country's dubious human rights record, together with the rumours that Chinese-based lawyers may have to swear an oath of loyalty to the Communist government, may remind firms there's rather more to think about with China than its economic prospects.
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