The case of female official Li Peixia in Shangrao City, Jiangxi Province, reporting her superior official Mao Qi for sexual assault and retaliatory attacks has continued to attract attention. On Wednesday (28th), new developments emerged in the Li Peixia case. Her family members, after meeting with Li Peixia through their lawyer, questioned whether she had been coerced by the authorities. Additionally, Li Peixia’s father took to social media to question the legality of the “officially appointed lawyer” arranged for her.
On the afternoon of August 28th, Lawyer Guo Rui from the Zhongwen Law Firm in Beijing posted on Weibo stating that as one of the defense lawyers entrusted by Li Peixia’s family, he was obstructed when attempting to meet Li Peixia in Shangrao City Detention Center on the 28th. The local authorities in Shangrao had already arranged for an “officially appointed lawyer” for the case.
In the post, it was further mentioned, “Our legal team strongly protests the serious violation of lawyers’ rights and the legal rights of detainees by the local law enforcement agencies, and strongly demands to review the source of the appointment letter for the officially appointed lawyer.”
According to Lawyer Guo Rui, Li Peixia had signed an authorization for the “officially appointed lawyer” arranged by Shangrao authorities, Wang Zhixiong, to act as her legal representative.
On August 28th, Guo Rui revealed the progress of the Li Peixia case in a detailed post: On August 21st, Guo Rui and Li Songmei met with Li Peixia at Shangrao City Detention Center. The two lawyers entered the meeting room and after relevant staff left, they asked Li Peixia if she agreed to them defending her, to which she nodded. While about to sign the authorization agreement, Li Peixia mentioned that she had already written an application to the investigation team to arrange a meeting with her and her family. The investigation team assured her of her family’s safety. Therefore, she wanted to wait until after meeting with her family before signing. She did not explicitly refuse the authorization and expressed gratitude to the lawyers. She said, “We have reason to suspect that Li Peixia is being coerced.”
Lawyer Guo Rui stated that they were the defense lawyers appointed by Li Peixia’s family for her case and according to the law, a defendant can only have two defense lawyers. In the situation where they have not been dismissed as defense lawyers, the local authorities forcibly arranged for an officially appointed lawyer, which is clearly illegal. Furthermore, the officially appointed lawyer Wang Zhixiong was previously the legal advisor of Li Peixia’s former workplace, Shangrao Xiang government, and should have recused himself.
On the afternoon of the 28th, Li Changliu, Li Peixia’s father, also shared Lawyer Guo Rui’s detailed post on his Weibo account.
In the evening of the 28th, Li Changliu posted an article titled “Ten Questions for Li Peixia’s Officially Appointed Lawyer” on social media, questioning the legality and motives of the officially appointed lawyer Wang Zhixiong’s representation.
In the article, Li Changliu asked questions such as how Lawyer Wang Zhixiong obtained Li Peixia’s authorization letter, who paid the legal fees, how he became the third lawyer, whether he met with Li Peixia, and who arranged his involvement. Currently, the above message has been deleted.
On August 18th, the Shangrao City authorities in Jiangxi Province issued the latest notice stating that Li Peixia had been expelled from the Party and prosecuted.
According to the official notice, on May 26th this year, the Discipline Inspection Commission of Wannian County took coercive measures against Li Peixia and delivered the detention notice to Li Peixia’s family within 24 hours. On June 17th, the Shangrao City Discipline Inspection Commission announced the investigation of Li Peixia.
A month later, on July 25th, Li Changliu, Li Peixia’s father, publicly released a “life-saving video” left by his daughter online, accusing Mao Qi of sexual assault and retaliation against Li Peixia.
In the video, Li Changliu mentioned that on May 23rd, his daughter Li Peixia had expressed her intention to report Mao to the provincial authorities but three days later, she was taken away by the Discipline Inspection Commission and could not speak out.
Li Changliu revealed on Weibo, “Before Li Peixia was taken away, Mao directly told her: This time, even if you don’t die, you will at least lose your skin!”
He also mentioned, “After the Jiangxi Discipline Inspection Commission issued the notice of Mao Qi’s investigation, some people still conveyed messages to me saying: Netizens do not care if Li Peixia is innocent. When the time comes, they will destroy and defame Li Peixia, shifting all the blame onto her, and netizens will be satisfied as well.”