Zheng Enchong (born 2 September 1950) is a
Shanghai
Shanghai, Shanghainese: , Standard Chinese pronunciation: is a direct-administered municipality and the most populous urban area in China. The city is located on the Chinese shoreline on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the ...
-based ''
Weiquan'' (rights defending) lawyer. Zheng was sentenced in 2003 to three years in prison for his advocacy on behalf of citizens who had been forcibly evicted from their homes. The charge stemmed from two faxes Zheng was alleged to have sent to the New York-based organisation
Human Rights in China
Human rights in the People's Republic of China are poor, as per reviews by international bodies, such as human rights treaty bodies and the United Nations Human Rights Council's Universal Periodic Review. The Chinese Communist Party (CCP), th ...
concerning workers' protests. Upon his release from prison, he remained under house arrest.
His lawyer
Guo Guoting was allegedly forbidden to see him. Guo Guoting now lives in
Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...
.
Zheng Enchong had advised more than 500 families displaced by Shanghai's urban redevelopment projects on their rights to fair compensation. In 2005, he received the Human Rights Award of the
German Association of Judges.
Biography
During the Cultural Revolution, he was exiled to the countryside for 11 years before returning to a variety of factory and government jobs. He began to study law in 1985 and passed the lawyer's exam two years later. In 1994, Zheng started representing clients who claimed they had been illegally evicted and who received little or no compensation from the authorities. In 2001, the Shanghai Judicial Bureau refused to renew his lawyer's licence and he was detained in June 2003, days after a group of evicted residents he had advised appeared in court attempting to sue the authorities for adequate compensation, alleging collusion between officials and a wealthy property developer.
Zheng Enchong was later charged and sentenced to three years in prison for "supplying state secrets to foreign entities" in connection with faxes he sent to
Human Rights in China
Human rights in the People's Republic of China are poor, as per reviews by international bodies, such as human rights treaty bodies and the United Nations Human Rights Council's Universal Periodic Review. The Chinese Communist Party (CCP), th ...
, an NGO based in New York. There are serious concerns that Zheng Enchong's detention and conviction were aimed at preventing him from continuing with his advocacy work. A lasting effect of his conviction has been a reported decrease in the number of lawyers in Shanghai willing to "risk" defending people's rights to housing for fear of reprisals.
On December 8, 2005, the
German Judges Association presented Zheng Enchong with its “Human Rights Award” at a reception attended by the
German president. Jiang Meili was invited to receive the award on Zheng's behalf, but his wife Jiang Meili was restricted from leaving China. Therefore, a petitioner of Hong Kong accepted the award on his behalf.
Zheng Enchong was released on June 5, 2006, but remained under house arrest.
[Human Rights in China]
'Shanghai Lawyer Zheng Enchong Under De Facto House Arrest'
28 June 2006
Further reading
* Congressional-Executive Commission on China, Rights and Rule of Law - News and Analysis
Authorities Punish Imprisoned Activist Zheng Enchong After He Receives Human Rights Award 4 January 2006
Member of European Parliament Discusses Sensitive Issues With China Rights Lawyer in Shanghai (part 1) 28 November 2008
Member of European Parliament Discusses Sensitive Issues With China Rights Lawyer in Shanghai (part 2) 28 November 2008
* China Aid
Christian Attorney Zheng Enchong Interrogated and Tortured by China Police 23 June 2009
*Radio Sound of Hope, , 21 June 2009
*Jerome A. Cohen
“SHANGHAIED” AT HOME — AND FOREVER?" NYU
New York University (NYU) is a private research university in New York City, New York, United States. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded in 1832 by Albert Gallatin as a non-denominational all-male institutio ...
U.S.-Asia Law Institute, 9 June 2010
*Jerome A. Cohen and Yu-Jie Chen
'Prisoner in his own home' South China Morning Post
The ''South China Morning Post'' (''SCMP''), with its Sunday edition, the ''Sunday Morning Post'', is a Hong Kong-based English-language newspaper owned by Alibaba Group. Founded in 1903 by Tse Tsan-tai and Alfred Cunningham, it has remaine ...
, June 10, 2010
*Joseph Kahn
China: Lawyer Sentenced New York Times, 29 October 2003
*Howard W. French
New York Times, 18 September 2004
*Howard W. French
New York Times, 5 September 2006
*Howard W. French
New York Times, 26 February 2008
*Human Rights in China
Further Harassment of Zheng Enchong’s Wife 4 March 2004
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Zheng, Enchong
1950 births
Living people
Charter 08 signatories
Weiquan movement
20th-century Chinese lawyers
21st-century Chinese lawyers
Inmates of Tilanqiao Prison