Gao Zhisheng

GaoZhisheng, age 41, army veteran, Communist Party member, self taught lawyer, Christian; is director, founder and star litigator of the well known Beijingbased Shengzhi Law Office which because it is one few China lawfirms involved with human rightsissues has been suspended by the Chinese authorities for one year.

Amnesty Internationalsays, "The closure comes shortly after the firm?s director sent an open letter to the Chinese President Hu Jintaoand Premier Wen Jiabaourging them to end the ?barbaric? persecution of Falun Gongpractitioners in China. It is believed that the closure of the firm is closely linked with this letter. [...] Amnesty International is concerned that this suspension will severely undercut the work of human rights activists in the country." [1]

History

Mr. Gao was born and raised in poverty in Shaanxi Provincewith six siblings. He joined the People's Liberation Army, was stationed at a base in Kashgar, in Xinjiang region, and became a Communist party member.

He took a self-taught course on the law and won many cases in court including winning 100 thousand dollars in a medical lawsuit and a businessman's privatization lawsuit against local authorities in Xinjiang.

In 2000he moved to Beijingand established the Shengzhi Law Office with a half dozen other lawyers.

On November 42005Beijing Municipal Bureau of Justice's official notice closing the firm for failure to notify the authorities of its change of address and the ?illegal? submission of legal documents to a lawyer who does not work for the firm, is received by Gao Zhisheng.

On January 172006, according to an Epoch Timesreport, Mr. Gao escaped an assassination attempt allegedly ordered by the Chinese government. The attempted car crash plot came in the wake of the release of Mr. Gao's research reports on the prosecution of Falun Gong in mainland China, and his subsequent resignation of CCP membership.

Shengzhi Law Office cases

• a land dispute case against Taishi village officials

• a class action law suit against local authorities over coercion in implementation of China?s family planning policies

• appealing the sentence of Zheng Yichun, a journalist and former professor who was sentenced to seven years imprisonment in September for his on-line writings

• legal help for Falun Gong

• legal help for an illegal Christianchurch

See also

• Politics of the People's Republic of China
• Universal Declaration of Human Rights
• Law of the People's Republic of China
• Kai fang

Sources

• Amnesty International
• New York Times

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It uses material from the http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gao+Zhisheng Wikipedia article Gao Zhisheng.