1st LD Writethru-Xinhua Insight: Fresh details reveal seized lawyers' misconduct in, outside court

Lawyers seized by police earlier for organizing paid protests to sway court decisions in the name of rights protection are more apt to make a scene in and out of a court and pump up their own reputations, the latest case details reveal.

According to a statement released Saturday by the Ministry of Public Security, nine lawyers and several other suspects have been placed under "coercive measures", which, according to the Criminal Procedure Law, include summons by force, bail, residential surveillance, detention and arrest.

The group, led by Fengrui Law Firm, were suspected of being involved in disrupting public order and seeking profits by illegally hiring protesters and swaying court decisions in the name of "defending justice and public interests."

Since July 2012, the group has organized more than 40 controversial incidents.

BUTCHER AT WORK

"At the Fengrui Law Firm, Wu Gan was famously known to specialize in the 'physical' aspect of things, along with a group of 'warriors,'" said Xie Yuandong, one of the arrested and formerly an intern lawyer with the firm.

"They completely disregarded legal facts or laws and regulations when in court, and could always make a scene outdoors no matter how big or small the case was," Xie said.

In January, Wu, going by the online name of "Super Vulgar Butcher," was sent to the city of Dali in southwest China's Yunnan Province on a case despite the fact that he was never a lawyer.

"I immediately knew that Wu would create troubles once he arrived there," Xie said, adding that it was arranged beforehand that Wu was responsible for creating pressures on the court while Xie attended to the case.

Wu reportedly drove around the court building repeatedly after being banned from entry. Once allowed inside, he continued to drive around in the yard while shouting the name of the head of the court.

Wu was also known to have played a key role in raising banners, shouting and screaming, obtaining the names of court judges and local officials and posting messages online to hype up cases on multiple occasions.

"Lawyers did what lawyers should. Butchers did what butchers should. This was good cooperation," said Zhou Shifeng, director of the firm who is also under police custody. "Although Wu was no lawyer, he was capable of doing what lawyers could not."

According to Zhou, Wu's reputation as "butcher" was huge, and any government department would pay great attention when they knew Wu was coming.

Meanwhile, suspect Liu Sixin, a firm assistant with a law PhD, revealed that he wrote and prepared basically all documents needed for a hearing and Zhou only read verbatim at court, describing Zhou's work as "very unprofessional."

Camera recordings for a court hearing in the northeastern city of Shenyang in April showed that several defending lawyers were shouting and screaming shortly after the trial opened despite judges' calls for order. They later switched targets to police trying to interfere, with the firm's female lawyer Wang Yu pointing fingers and calling them "hooligans."

Jiao Yuling, a chief judge with the court, said that all four trials on the same case had to be aborted due to the commotion created by defending lawyers, the defendants and their relatives.

According to the ministry statement, making a scene and then being forced out of court was the group's usual tricks to paint an image of victim for themselves, induce sympathy and hype up cases on a wider scope.

REPUTATION & PROFITS

"Fengrui Law Firm was very young back then and couldn't compare with other influential counterparts. I wanted to manage several huge cases, and once with a reputation, I could make more money," Zhou said.

Zhou reportedly only accepted high-profile cases, and for those small ones, the firm would always resort to methods to boost publicity.

"I let my subordinates do whatever they could to boost the firm's reputation. For major, difficult cases, I would instruct them to create some influence and attract public attention," Zhou said.

People recruited by Zhou included retired government officials, reporters with state-run media groups as well as lawyers who have already earned their names through non-professional effort.

"Wang Yu enjoyed quite a reputation in the lawyer industry. Although she earned it mostly from shrewish quarrels and public exposure, it was an indisputable fact that everybody knew her," Zhou said.

According to Zhou, people like Wang was exactly what he needed to raise the firm's reputation and hype up cases.

Referring to Huang Liqun, another suspect under police custody, Zhou said, "he was an official within the governmental system and had huge influence. I could take advantage of his resources, and use his influence to expand my own."

Judges who had encounters with the group during trials also noted that their aim was to delay hearings and pressure courts into reducing and even revoking defendants' sentences so as to boost the firm's reputation.

A suspect surnamed Gou revealed that he once reached out to Zhou for a case on payment delays for migrant workers, but contrary to Zhou's previous image as a rights lawyer, he showed no interest in the case and refused.

"It was all about profits. They were not interested because defending the migrant workers won't earn them much money," Gou said.

According to multiple suspects, the firm claimed to accept cases free of charges, but would later organize donations to solicit funds online in the name of rights protection. Use of the charity funds was seldom monitored or recorded, and many went to the lawyers' own pockets.

"An online donation was held for a high-profile case in Heilongjiang Province last year, with more than 100,000 yuan collected. I was supposed to be the supervisor, but I hadn't a chance to see the ledger and had no idea where the money had gone," Liu said.

In a trademark dispute in 2014, while other lawyers recommended reducing sentences, Zhou claimed to be able to prove the defendants' innocence so as to win the defendants' trust and manage the case. He reportedly promised to return the one million yuan as the attorney's fee if he couldn't get half of the arrested released.

Zhou's group then resorted to the usual tricks of disrupting court orders, verbally attacking judges and hyping up the case on the Interent, but the court still found all the defendants guilty.

Zhou never returned the one million yuan, an unnamed lawyer with the firm said.

"Acts of a minority of lawyers have gone far beyond the realm of their professional practices, severely violating lawyers' professional ethics, disrupting judicial activities and social orders," said He Yong, a senior official with the Ministry of Justice.

Saturday's statement also revealed evidence pointing to possible tax evasion and bribing state functionaries in order to win cases.

In the trademark case, Zhou reportedly let the defendants wire the one million yuan as well as 300,000 yuan to compensate traffic costs directly to his personal account.

"Attorney's fees were often wired into my own accounts or accounts related to me, and I didn't pay tax for those fees. It was a severe violation of the law," Zhou confessed.

According to Liu, Zhou also paid firm employees' salaries himself, exact figures unknown to the financing office, noting that it might be related to tax evasion.

Several suspects have confessed and shown regrets.

"Our acts were not compatible with a normal lawyer. Whether practicing the law or being a citizen, no matter what problems emerge, we should always resort to legal channels to solve them," Liu said.

Liu added that "savage acts" can only become negative factors in the country's rule of law and might also be taken advantage by foreign malicious forces. Endi