Thread by @WilliamYang120

Latest - On the fifth anniversary of the #709crackdown, I talked to two wives of human rights lawyers, @xuyan709 and @jinbianling, as well as a lawyer who was targeted in 2015 about #Beijing's crackdown on lawyers and whether the situation has changed.

medium.com/@williamyang_3…

"“After they refused to show their identification cards, my husband refused to let them in. They used a chainsaw to break the metal door on the outside, and I could still remember the terrifyingly loud noise," said @xuyan709.

"Once they broke into my house, they forced my husband to the ground and handcuffed his hands to his back."

"Many illegal procedures happened in Yu Wensheng’s case, including he was secretly sentenced and put through secret trials. I think his experience was more brutal than other human rights lawyers."

"As his wife, I was also summoned to the police station many times or the police would prevent me from leaving my house.”

Xie Yang, who was a detainee during the "709 Mass Arrest" and now @yuwensheng's lawyer, said Yu’s case has completely deviated from the normal legal proceedings.

“I have not been able to meet Yu Wensheng since he was detained almost 1000 days ago, and the court’s decision to conduct secret trials as well as prohibiting family members and lawyers from meeting him have violated China’s criminal proceedings."

Jian Tianyong is another human rights lawyer whose ongoing house arrest has concerned the international community and rights groups. According to his wife, Jiang hasn't been able to have access to hospital visits since he was released.

"Jiang Tianyong’s health has not been well since he was released, forcing him to stay home and rest most of the time. Even though he wanted to come to the United States and be reunited with me and our daughter, he can’t even leave the small village."

"He has basically been transferred from a small prison to a big prison and he still can’t regain his freedom in the big prison. Rather, he remains under house arrest.”

While some human rights lawyers are still under certain level of government surveillance, Jin Bianling thinks her husband's 24-hour surveillance is still at a different level. His conditions have made her lose hope in #China's legal system.

Xie Yang went to visit Jiang months after he was released, and Xie described the difficulties that Jiang was facing. "I realized that if he wasn’t able to regain access to hospitals, he could lose his legs," Xie said.

" I decided to negotiate with the police officers stationed outside Jiang’s house, hoping they could allow Jiang to visit the doctors. They agreed and took Jiang to a nearby hospital."

"However, the doctors only ran a few tests then concluded that there was nothing wrong with Jiang’s body. Until now, Jiang still hasn’t been able to access quality medical care, and his illness persists," Xie told me.

Xu Yan, Jin Bianling and Xie Yang all think that even though most of the human rights lawyers have been released, the 709 crackdown continues. "As long as Yu Wensheng hasn’t been released, it means the crackdown on human rights lawyers that began with 709 continues,” said Xu.

“The only difference is that Beijing has changed the way they persecute human rights lawyers, punishing them through administrative penalties or cancelling their licenses.”

@jinbianling points out that even though Jiang Tianyong and Wang Quanzhang have been released over the last year, but both of them haven't really regained freedom.

"Their physical health isn’t great, and sometimes they also have difficulty controlling their emotions. I think these are all traumas caused by the tortures they suffered in prison.

The Chinese government has been using very nasty ways to handle cases related to the ‘709 Mass Arrest,’ so I think the incident has never ended," Jin told me.

Xie Yang said while he was detained during the #709crackdown, even though the Chinese government did many things to human rights lawyers behind the scenes, but at least the courts would still maintain public proceedings according to the law.

"However, take Yu Wensheng’s case as an example, there was no public trial and his family members were also never informed properly about updates from the case,” Xie told me.

"“When I was detained following the ‘709 Mass Arrest,’ I was able to meet my lawyer 500 days after my initial detention. Yu has been detained for close to 1000 days, but he still can’t meet his lawyer or his family members."

Xu Yan worries that Yu Wensheng could face the same fate as Jiang Tianyong, where he remains in indefinite house arrest after serving out his 4-year sentence.

"He still has to be imprisoned for 22 months, so I’m worried that he might be tortured. I also wonder if the police will finally let me and my son to visit him. I will continue to advocate for him, but if he can’t come home with me after 22 months,...

... I really can’t promise what might happen next."

Jin Bianling thinks that only if family members are willing to speak up, more people will pay attention to the persecution of the human rights lawyers, and it could potentially lower the risks of them being tortured.

"Look at @709wangqiaoling and @709liwenzu. Since they are back in China, they are facing a lot more risks than some of us, However, they never stop protesting, which was why I think Wang Quanzhang could reunited with his family. This is a small success.”

Mandarin version of the piece, with all quotes in the interviewees original language:

dw.com/zh/709%E5%A4%A…