Xu Zhiyong aide’s status is uncertain

27 Aug 09 | Index Index, minipost

Human rights advocates in China indicated that Zhuang Lu, the office assistant at the prominent human rights law centre Gongmeng may not have been released, as was previously stated. Ms Zhuang made a short phone call to her mother on 26 August in order to tell her that she was awaiting trial and forbidden from leaving Beijing. Read more here

China: human rights lawyer formally arrested

19 Aug 09 | Index Index, minipost

Leading Chinese Human Rights lawyer Xhu Zhihong has been formally arrested and faces up to seven years imprisonment on a charge of tax evasion. Zhihong is co-founder of Gongmeng (Open Constitution Initiative) which has taken on some of the most sensitive and high-profile cases in the past few years. His arrest comes amid a recent crackdown on humanitarian lawyers in the run up to the 60th Anniversary of Communist rule in October. Read more here