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Gao Zhisheng b. 1966 - d. ?
Feb. 4th, 2010 06:08 pmDoes the name tell something to you? It didn't to me till today.
Gao Zhisheng is a Chinese lawyer. He was born and raised in a cave dwelling in Shanxi, was a coal miner, then joined the People's Liberation Army and, later the Communist Party.
After been discharged he studied law and passed the bar exam in 1995, as many as 1/3 of his cases were pro bono, following official harrassment after one such case he relocated to Beijing were he opened an office with half a dozen other lawyers.
Gao documented the persecution of the underground Christians and of the Falun Gong and defended them in court, as well as taking cases regarding a land dispute with local governement officers, workers' exploitation and a class-action law suit against coercion in the implementation of family-planning policy.
In 2000 Gao quit the Party , he is quoted as saying :'“This [Chinese Communist] Party has employed the most savage, most immoral, and most illegal means to torture our mothers, torture our wives, torture our children, and torture our brothers and sisters…Today, I, Gao Zhisheng… formally withdraw from this inhumane, unjust, and evil Party. This is the proudest day of my life.”
In 2005, shortly after writing an open letter to Hu Jintao and Wen Jiabao urging them to end the persecution of the Falun Gong, Gao was put under continuous police surveillance, his law firm was closed and his licence to practice law suspended.
In the following years Gao was arrested multiple times, beaten and tortured
In the early hours of February the 4th 2009 he was taken away by the security police, his family hasn't heard from him since. His brother has apparently been told that he lost his way and went missing in September 2009, many fear that means Gao Zhishen died or was killed.
Gao Zhisheng is a Chinese lawyer. He was born and raised in a cave dwelling in Shanxi, was a coal miner, then joined the People's Liberation Army and, later the Communist Party.
After been discharged he studied law and passed the bar exam in 1995, as many as 1/3 of his cases were pro bono, following official harrassment after one such case he relocated to Beijing were he opened an office with half a dozen other lawyers.
Gao documented the persecution of the underground Christians and of the Falun Gong and defended them in court, as well as taking cases regarding a land dispute with local governement officers, workers' exploitation and a class-action law suit against coercion in the implementation of family-planning policy.
In 2000 Gao quit the Party , he is quoted as saying :'“This [Chinese Communist] Party has employed the most savage, most immoral, and most illegal means to torture our mothers, torture our wives, torture our children, and torture our brothers and sisters…Today, I, Gao Zhisheng… formally withdraw from this inhumane, unjust, and evil Party. This is the proudest day of my life.”
In 2005, shortly after writing an open letter to Hu Jintao and Wen Jiabao urging them to end the persecution of the Falun Gong, Gao was put under continuous police surveillance, his law firm was closed and his licence to practice law suspended.
In the following years Gao was arrested multiple times, beaten and tortured
In the early hours of February the 4th 2009 he was taken away by the security police, his family hasn't heard from him since. His brother has apparently been told that he lost his way and went missing in September 2009, many fear that means Gao Zhishen died or was killed.
