Renowned human rights lawyer Lu Si, who has been under surveillance for nearly a year in mainland China, was recently arrested by the Chengdu police on suspicion of “illegal border crossing” and was subsequently taken to a detention center on the same night. Lu Si was one of the lawyers arrested during the “709 Crackdown” and has handled many sensitive cases, including being disbarred for defending the defendants in the “12 Hong Kongers case”.
According to Radio Free Asia’s report on the 11th, Lu Si’s wife Zhang Chunxiao confirmed that Lu Si had been arrested by the Chenghua Sub-bureau of the Chengdu Public Security Bureau.
Lu Si was arrested by the Laotian police in July of last year on the charge of “illegal border crossing” and was requested by the Chinese Ministry of Public Security to be repatriated in September. He was then detained in a detention center until the end of October last year. He was subsequently released on bail pending trial and was under 24-hour surveillance in his designated residence. Originally, his term was set to expire on October 27th of this year. During this period, he had been questioned by the police multiple times.
Zhang Chunxiao posted on social media “X” saying that on the 10th, Lu Si was forcibly taken away from their home in Chengdu by the police from the Chenghua Sub-bureau. He sent a video message to his wife before the police entered the house.
“They are outside, knocking on the door, definitely an arrest. Handle it as you see fit, everything that needs to be explained has been explained, no need to worry, there’s no other way,” Lu Si said to his wife in the video message.
Zhang Chunxiao mentioned, “When I woke up in the morning and saw his message to me because he was taken away yesterday (October 10th) at around 6 p.m. Beijing time, which was midnight here, and he didn’t contact me.”
Zhang Chunxiao expressed her anger and sadness over her husband’s arrest, urging the public to pay attention to the matter.
At the time of the incident, a friend of Lu Si happened to visit and witnessed Lu Si being taken away in the parking lot. Around 7 p.m. on October 10th, one of his lawyer friends received a call from the Chenghua Sub-bureau Baohe Police Station in Chengdu, informing him of Lu Si’s formal arrest.
Lu Si, one of the lawyers arrested during the “709 Crackdown,” has handled many sensitive cases. In 2017, he initiated a citizen petition urging the National People’s Congress of the Chinese Communist Party to establish a special investigation committee to independently investigate whether torture was used in the “709” series of cases.
In 2021, Lu Si defended the defendants in the “12 Hong Kongers case” and had his lawyer’s license revoked by the authorities. Later the same year, the Chinese Communist Party prohibited him from going to the United States as a visiting scholar and restricted his exit from the country.
Lu Si’s friend and former Chinese lawyer Wei Shuiping believes that according to the relevant provisions of the Chinese Criminal Law, the first illegal border crossing generally results in administrative penalties and does not constitute a crime, with criminal penalties being imposed only on second offenses. “Lu Si, as a lawful citizen, has a visa to go to the United States. Several years ago, Lu had planned to go to the United States as a visiting scholar but was restricted from leaving the country by Shanghai border personnel.”