Chinese activist held on tax evasion charge
By Associated Press | August 5, 2009
BEIJING - A prominent Chinese legal scholar whose rights group has tackled some of China’s most politically sensitive cases, including a tainted milk scandal, has been accused of tax evasion following his arrest a week ago, his brother said yesterday.
The detention of Xu Zhiyong comes as China appears to be widening a crackdown against activist lawyers and nongovernmental organizations to stifle any dissent ahead of the 60th anniversary of the communist nation’s founding on Oct. 1.
Last month, more than 50 Beijing lawyers, many of whom focus on politically sensitive human rights issues, had their licenses revoked. In addition, several nongovernmental groups have recently been targeted by police for harassment.
Xu, who cofounded the Gongmeng legal aid organization, was taken from his Beijing home July 29 around 5 a.m. by several policemen. Another Gongmeng staffer, Zhuang Lu, was also detained.
Yesterday, his brother Xu Zhihong said that officials from the Beijing University of Post and Telecommunications, where Xu Zhiyong taught, said they were notified that the scholar was being detained for tax evasion.
The People’s Congress of Haidian district in Beijing, a local body of which Xu is a member, said it had approved his detention, his brother said.
The approval is required because Xu is an elected official.
Xu Zhihong said he believed his brother was innocent of wrongdoing.
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