More details on the experience of  Mr. Tao Yuan's lawyers in a follow up to yesterday's article.

Mr. Tao Yuan's Lawyers Injured and Threatened

Of Falun Gong practitioner Mr. Tao Yuan's two lawyers, one has been injured and the other threatened by personnel trying to intimidate them from seeking justice for their client. Lawyer Cheng Hai said in a media interview, "That day at 9:00 a.m., seven to eight persons came. They closed the door and did not allow us through. They beat and kicked me. The middle finger on my right hand was bleeding, and my left rib was in pain. My right wrist and thumb joint is now extremely painful." The hospital diagnosed that Cheng Hai is suffering from soft tissue damage.

Zhou Peng, another lawyer from Chengdu, finished handling Mr. Tao's case in Guangyuan and returned to Chengdu on the night of April 14. He was pressured by both the law office he worked for and Sichuan University, demanding that he cease his involvement in the case. Zhou had to abandon his original plan, which was to work together with lawyer Cheng Hai to supply legal aid to Ms. Zhang Shengrong, Mr Tao's mother, concerning her being illegally monitored and tailed by Jingyang Street Office.

Mr. Tao Yuan, a Chengdu Falun Gong practitioner, graduated from Beijing Normal University. He has been detained and sent to forced labor many times since the persecution began in 1999. Over the last ten years he has been free for less than one year. In January 2007 Tao Yuan was arrested by police from Jinyang Police Station, and illegally sentenced by Wuhou District Court. He was sent to Guangyuan Prison and is still being persecuted there. Mr. Tao's mother, Ms. Zhang Shengrong, has also been detained repeatedly since 1999. She has been monitored and followed by Jinyang Street Office since 2005.

In March 2009, the Guangyuan Prison notified Ms. Zhang that her son Tao Yuan had a cervical dislocation and needed to undergo an operation. Ms. Zhang found lawyers to seek justice for her son. On April 12, when she went home to pick up some ID cards, the staffs from Jinyang Comprehensive Administration Office and the police who were monitoring her broke into her house. They harassed and threatened the lawyers, and kept Zhang Shengrong at home by force. The second day when the two lawyers went to see Ms. Zhang Shengrong, they were prevented by the office staffs who were posted outside her house. Cheng Hai, the lawyer from Beijing, was injured.