Shanghai, China - Judicial authorities in Beijing have shut down the firm of a prominent civil rights lawyer, after he refused to withdraw an open letter urging President Hu Jintao to respect freedom of religion and to stop persecuting members of the banned Falun Gong spiritual movement.
Gao Zhisheng, who is viewed as being among the most daring of a generation of self-trained lawyers who have been pushing the Chinese government to obey its laws, said the Beijing Bureau of Justice on Friday had ordered that his firm suspended from practice for one year.
The move was made hours after Gao filed an appeal on behalf of an underground Protestant pastor accused of illegally printing Bibles and other Christian literature.
According to Gao, the government said the firm was being suspended because it had failed to register with the authorities after moving into a new office this year. But he said the action followed his refusal to renounce the open letter to Hu and withdraw from politically sensitive cases as demanded by officials during a series of recent meetings.
Gao said that his firm had notified the government when it moved, but that officials had not allowed the firm to register at the new address.
''We're very angry," Gao said by telephone Saturday. ''By doing this, the Chinese Communist Party is demonstrating it defies all laws, human and divine. They are saying that anyone who believes in law, who criticizes the political system . . . will be targeted."
Officials are cracking down on religion, media freedoms, and other civil liberties; the move also reflects Hu's government wish to take action to restrict the influence of members of China's budding legal profession. Lawyers such as Gao have been at the forefront of a campaign to inform citizens of their rights.
Gao said he plans to fight his firm's suspension at a formal hearing this week.