Ge Yongxi

Ge Yongxi (Chinese 葛永喜, born March 5, 1974 in Wuhu ) is a Chinese lawyer known for taking cases from Weiquan lawyers . Lives in Foshan, Guangdong Province and works at An Guo Law Office.

Defended Christian pastors; Activists against corruption; and those who belonged to a nonviolent, civil, and "disobedient" movement. He was threatened, harassed, detained, and beaten through his work.

In September 2015, Ge Yongxi wanted to go to Hong Kong , but was prevented from doing so without showing any papers or giving reasons. In 2015, human rights lawyer Ge was interrogated and detained several times for his work.

Imprisoned on defense

Ge Yongxi was arrested in Qing'an County, Heilongjiang Province in June 2015 for attempting to represent lawyers arbitrarily arrested by the local authorities. Ge had gone to Qing'an with colleagues Tang Tianhao, Ma Lianshun, and Xu Zhong to defend lawyers You Feizhu and Ma Wei, who had been arbitrarily arrested. Since the local police couldn't help them, Ge and his colleagues reported the two lawyers missing. Ge, Tang, Ma, and Xu were later detained themselves. Ge, Tang, and Ma were given 15 days of administrative detention, and Xu was held for 26 hours.

Ge was released with his colleagues after a nationwide petition was launched that was signed by 733 lawyers. This petition was submitted to the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress for an explanation of the circumstances surrounding Ge's arrest. You Feizhu and Ma Wei were also later released.

Front Line Defenders wrote that they welcomed Ge Yongxi's release, but expressed concern about the growing abuse of human rights lawyers who are just doing their job. Furthermore, this represents a strategy of intimidation by the Chinese authorities against human rights defenders.

On September 8, 2015, Ge was prevented from traveling to Hong Kong for no apparent reason. He was also asked about his human rights work. This led to speculation that this may have been the reason for the travel ban.

Arrested for caricature

Ge Yongxi was arrested in April 2016, following the revelations of the Panama Papers , and charged with “insulting other people”. He had posted a picture of the Panama Canal with a computerized image of the leaders of the Chinese Communist Party , to show that they should have riches abroad. Ge had published the picture on a social media platform and wanted to present it as a joke. His lawyer said he was just trying to make fun of a close relative of President Xi Jinping, who was mentioned in the Panama Papers.

Ge told BBC News that he had been asked by police where he got the picture from and had to make a written promise not to post the picture again. After Ge signed this statement, he was released after being detained for 22 hours.

Defense leads to arrest

The Washington Post reported in April 2016 that Ge Yongxi had been taking on civil cases since 2013. Ge defended Tang Jingling , a well-known attorney who was sentenced to five years in prison for subversion. Ge was not allowed to leave China while defending Tang. Ge was arrested again in June while defending another lawyer and interrogated in July for involvement in the legal movement.

When Ge became involved in the land conflict in the village of Wukan in June 2016 , he wrote on Sina Weibo that the authorities threatened him into withdrawing from the case. Ge had been hired by the sons of Lin Zuluan. Lin was one of the protest leaders arrested by local officials on unclear charges. The Hong Kong Free Press reported in June 2016 that Lin was arrested on suspicion of accepting bribes.

Ge posted on Weibo on the Internet that his law firm had notified him that the law firm had ordered the law firm to return the money to defend Lin. However, this post was deleted again.

Speaking to the Hong Kong Free Press , Ge said, "Arrested in the middle of the night, a quick confession, a TV parade, extensive surveillance - that only proves one point: This country has no justice!" When he was contacted by Hong Kong weekly HK01 Ge Yongxi said the Justice Department had no legal basis to order him to withdraw from the case. Ge mentioned that the Guangzhou City Justice Bureau and the Public Security Bureau wanted to meet with him. This led him to suspect that his personal safety might be at risk.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b c d e f g} Case History: Ge Yongxi , Front Line Defenders, June 6, 2015, accessed February 16, 2017
2. ↑ Bastian Obermayer , Frederik Obermaier , Vanessa Wormer and Wolfgang Jaschensky , Panama Papers: The Secrets of Dirty Money , Süddeutsche Zeitung, accessed on February 16, 2017
3. ↑ ^{a b c} Simon Denyer, Chinese lawyer detained over Panama Papers social media post mocking Xi , The Washington Post, April 15, 2016, accessed February 16, 2017
4. ↑ China arrests lawyer after Panama joke , Süddeutsche Zeitung, April 15, 2016, accessed on February 16, 2017
5. ↑ China briefly detains rights lawyer Ge Yongxi over Panama Papers post , BBC News, April 15, 2016, accessed February 16, 2017
6. ^ "An attempt at intimidation" , Süddeutsche Zeitung, April 15, 2016, accessed on February 16, 2017
7. ↑ Steffen Wurzel , A village rebels against state power , ARD Shanghai, September 13, 2016, accessed on February 16, 2017
8. ↑ Austin Ramzy, Protests Return to Wukan, Chinese Village That Once Expelled Its Officials , The New York Times, June 20, 2016, accessed February 16, 2017
9. ↑ ^{a b c} Catherine Lai, Lawyer hired for Wukan's chief says he is being pressured to withdraw from case , Hong Kong Free Press, June 23, 2016, accessed February 16, 2017
10. ↑ Juliet Song, Developing: China's 'Democracy Village' Under Renewed Threats From Regime , Epoch Times, June 22, 2016, accessed February 16, 2017