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Zhang Sizhi, Lawyer Who Defended Chinese Dissidents, Dies at 94


Zhang Sizhi, a Chinese lawyer, defends politically controversial clients, including Mao Zedong’s subordinates, Tiananmen-era dissidents, purged officials and victim of police raids, who inspired generations of human rights lawyers with his advocacy, died on June 24 in Beijing. He is 94 years old.

His death, in a hospital, was Announced by Wu Luan Zhao Yan Attorney in Beijing, where he worked as a senior consultant. Fu Kexin, a lawyer who worked with Mr. Zhang for many years, said the cause was cancer.

Mr. Zhang survived the war and then was persecuted under Mao Zedong to become one of China’s most famous lawyers. Final victories are rare in the country’s courtrooms, controlled by the Communist Party. But Mr. Zhang refused to accept that he was there just as a decoration. He used thorough preparation and rigorous reasoning to discredit accusations of negligence, challenge prosecution charges, and sometimes score victories.

“There are people in our country today who see Chinese lawyers as decorative vases,” Mr. Interview published in 2008. “But even if you are placed in a vase, you still have the power to decide whether you will be a dew-covered rose with thorns or a lily.”

Mr. Zhang began his legal career as an official of a Beijing court, proudly serving the Communist revolution. After the armed crackdown on protests in 1989, he staunchly defended those accused of inciting “counter-revolutionary anarchy”.

His efforts set an example for other Chinese lawyers who increasingly abuse state power. During the last decade of Mr. Zhang’s life, China’s leader, Xi Jinping, worked to stop the so-called human rights movement, disenfranchise, arrest or jail hundreds of lawyers and legal activists.

“He was the most tenacious, fighting after every defeat. Ms. Fu, who has worked with Mr. Zhang since the early 1990s, said. “Throughout his life, he firmly believed that the rule of law was the way China had to go, and lawyers certainly had an important role to play in that path.”

Mr. Zhang was born on November 12, 1927 in Zhengzhou, Central China, the eldest of 10 children. His father, Zhang Jingtang, is a doctor, and his mother, Meng Yanrong, manages the household. Growing up during the Japanese invasion of China, Zhang first intended to study diplomacy to help his homeland, he wrote in his memoirs. published in Hong Kong in 2014.

When Japanese forces gained a strong position, the family moved to Southwest China. A few days after turning 16, Zhang joined the army of the Kuomintang government and was sent to fight on the India-Burma border. After Japan’s defeat, he enrolled at Chaoyang University in Beijing, where he studied law. He also became increasingly involved in the underground politics of the Communist Party.

When Mao’s forces came to power in 1949, Mr. Zhang, one of the few law-trained party activists, was appointed a judge at a Beijing court, even though he was only 21 years old. , filled with revolutionary enthusiasm, he used a sharp. when he criticized the elders of the court, though he later regretted being so harsh.

As Mao tightened his grip, Mr. Zhang also became the target of official suspicion and criticism, in part because of his time in the defeated Kuomintang forces. After being branded a “right-winger” in 1957, he was stripped of his Communist Party membership and sent to work in the countryside. His law books were sent out like scraps of paper. He later taught at a school in Beijing, his legal career clearly behind him.

After Mao’s death in 1976, Mr. Zhang’s talent was once again needed as China’s new leaders began rebuilding the legal system. In 1980, he received a request to act as a defense attorney for the Gang of Four and other former officials who were facing trial over their roles in the extremes of the Cultural Revolution. More experienced attorneys turned down high-pressure work; Mr. Zhang agreed, although he abhorred the Cultural Revolution.

The defendants – including Jiang Qing, Mao’s widow – were accused of usurping power and persecuting officials. Ms. Jiang turned down Mr. Zhang’s offer to represent her, and he later say he regrets that he could not vigorously defend her in the well-rehearsed trial.

When another former official, Li Zuopeng, appeared in court, Mr. Zhang and his colleagues persuaded the judges to refute two of the most serious accusations. Ms. Jiang received a suspended death sentence, reduced to life in prison; Mr. Li was sentenced to 17 years in prison.

Mr. Zhang returned to crime defense after 1989, when he defended activists and a former senior official, Bao Tong, accused by the Communist Party of supporting the Tianzhu Square protests. Anmon demanded political freedom.

Mr. Zhang “puts his whole heart and soul into protecting the rights of citizens and the dignity of the law,” Bao said in a written statement. Mr. Bao was sentenced to seven years in prison, although he and Mr. Zhang methodically disputed the charge at a trial in 1992. Mr. Bao wrote: “The law is always a losing battle.

By the 1990s, Mr. Zhang had honed his strategy: Scraping through hundreds of pages of evidence, a grueling feat before copiers were common; locate weaknesses in the prosecutor’s case; and develop a backstory that can persuade, shame the judges to reduce the crime or deliver a relatively light sentence. Even when courts often ignore his arguments for finding someone not guilty, former clients say Mr. Zhang has worked from every angle.

“Zhang Sizhi always conducts defense within the framework of Chinese law,” Gao Yu, a journalist in Beijing whom Zhang defended in 1994, said in an interview. She credits him for cheating in court accept lower fees after she was indicted for leaking state secrets.

“The law has many flaws,” said Ms. Gao, “but he will always find places within that framework that will benefit his clients.”

Mr. Zhang continued to defend or advise clients in dozens of protracted cases, trying to stay calm in the face of obstacles posed by prosecutors and court officials.

Those he represents include Tenzin Deleg Rimpoche, a Tibetan Buddhist monk Convicted of a bomballeging that his supporters denounced as a set-up; Wu Yinga businesswoman fought, and finally overturned, a death sentence for flimsy financial fraud; and Nie Shubin, a factory worker executed in 1995 for rape and murder. In 2016, China’s highest court vindicate Mr. Nie.

“Even in his 60s, 70s, and 80s, he was particularly adept at identifying legal connections and significant events,” said Pu Zhiqiang, a Beijing-based lawyer who has worked for a long time. with Mr. Zhang, said in an interview.

Mr. Pu arrested in 2014 after attending a meeting in Beijing to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square crackdown, and Mr. Zhang was preparing to defend him when he suffered a stroke, forcing him to suspend his court work. . Mr. Zhang continues to advise and encourage Chinese lawyers, sometimes berating those who he believes have put public issues above their clients’ interests.

“Where are other fellows like him now?” asked Mr. Pu, who was barred from working in the court. “There will really never be another like him.”

Mr. Zhang is survived by his wife, Qu Yuan; a son, Zhang Ji; a daughter, Zhang Jian; a granddaughter; great-grandchildren; three brothers; and four sisters.

After his death, many Chinese lawyers offered memorials. However, authorities held the funeral brief and limited the attendance to 20 people, citing Covid limitations, Pu said.

Their real concern, he said, is Mr. Zhang’s legacy.

“I wasn’t ready to be pushed around, so I had to constantly resist,” said Mr. Zhang said in a talk in Hong Kong in 2014. But in contemporary China, he added, “the goals of ensuring rights and safeguarding justice cannot be achieved, and I have shed tears over this.”



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