More than 25 months after his "disappearance" amid a nationwide police operation targeting Chinese human rights lawyers in 2015, the wife of detained lawyer Wang Quanzhang continues to fight for his right to see a lawyer, something which has been denied him since his detention. At the time of his detention, Wang worked for the now shuttered Beijing Fengrui law firm. His wife Li Wenzu told RFA that the family is desperate for any news of him at all:
It has now been [more than 900 days] since Wang Quanzhang went missing on July 10, 2015. It's as if he just evaporated; was removed from the human world. It's a total mystery to us.
At the very least, we should have had some kind of news of him, to confirm for us that this person still exists. We are extremely concerned about his health, and we hope everyone will continue to pay attention to Wang Quanzhang. One day, Quanzhang will be free.
The government has refused all along to allow his lawyers to visit him. We have had six lawyers since he was detained, and they have stuck by him, and continued to call for meetings with Wang Quanzhang via legal channels.
But more than 900 days have passed, and there has been no movement on his case. He has been more cruelly treated than a terrorist, far more cruelly treated. A person has been basically taken away by a government that can just disappear him if they want to. This is very cruel.
His family and lawyers ... have never given up; we have kept on with the requests for a meeting. We only have one demand; that he should at least be allowed a visit from a lawyer. I think they owe us an answer about whether he is alive or dead, don't they?
We will keep going on every day that Wang Quanzhang remains unfree; for every day that he doesn't come home. It's no good just doing it on one day, or two. I think if we keep going with this, we will eventually get a result.
Even if they don't respond, we shouldn't make it easy for them to break the law like that. I think that there will gradually be a build-up of pressure on them. He has been missing for more than 900 days now, with no news, and no visit from a lawyer.
Our lawyers have filed lawsuits, but they aren't even allowed in through the main door. Eventually, I think all of our efforts will put pressure on someone, and will pay off.
Reported by Ng Yik-tung and Sing Man for RFA's Cantonese Service, and by Yang Fan for the Mandarin Service. Translated and edited by Luisetta Mudie.
