Lawyer For HK Detainees Loses His Licence

A mainland lawyer who has helped the families of 12 Hongkongers arrested by the Guangdong coast guard in August was told by the authorities on Monday that his licence will be revoked.

Lu Siwei, who is from Sichuan, was one of the lawyers hired by families of the group.

The Ministry of Justice in Sichuan said Lu had repeatedly made inappropriate remarks on the internet, seriously damaged the image of the legal sector and had an adverse impact on society.

Authorities there said what he did had violated relevant laws governing lawyers.

They said Lu had three days to request a hearing to argue his case.

Ten of the detainees were last week sentenced to between seven months and three years in jail for crossing into mainland waters while apparently trying to flee to Taiwan in August. The other two detainees, who are minors, were sent back to Hong Kong.

All of them either face protest-related charges in the SAR or had been arrested on suspicion of violating the national security law.

Lu and other lawyers hired by the families had been denied access to the defendants, who were believed to have been represented by lawyers appointed by the mainland authorities.