Excerpted from Telegraph:
Human Rights in China, a New York-based organisation, said the firm may have been punished because some of its lawyers had signed an appeal in August 2008 calling for direct elections in the Beijing Lawyers Association, a government-administered body.
"The six-month shutdown sends a chilling warning to all lawyers that the authorities will not tolerate any perceived challenges to their power," said Sharon Hom, HRIC's director, in a statement. "This is not the path to a rule of law."
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For more information on this issue:
- Human Rights in China, Beijing Law Firm Yitong is Shut Down for Six Months; Staff Lawyers Ordered to Turn in Licenses, March 18, 2009
- Human Rights in China, Beijing Lawyers Association Violates Its Own Rule in Removing Independent Candidates from Election of Representatives, March 6, 2009
- Human Rights in China, Beijing Law Firm Faces Six-Month Shutdown for Attorneys' Support of Direct Bar Election February 19, 2009
- Human Rights in China, Lawyers Are Dismissed by Firms for Supporting Beijing Lawyers Association Direct Election, Law Firms are Threatened October 31, 2008
- Beijing Lawyers Association Direct Election website (CH)
- Appeal by 35 Lawyers August 26, 2008 (CH)
- "Stern Statement" by Beijing Bar Association September 5, 2008 (CH)