Baidu Censorship Promotes Government Articles Smearing "Rights Defense" Lawyer Wang Yu

As noted previously on this blog, on July 9, 2015, Wang Yu was taken from her home, on July 11 Chinese police announced they had arrested Wang Yu, and on July 14 Baidu began censoring searches for "Lawyer Wang Yu." See: http://blog.feichangdao.com/2015/07/baidu-censors-attorney-wang-yu-lawyer.html

One month before she was taken into detention, on June 11, 2015, the Chinese government's official news agency Xinhua published two articles criticizing attorney Wang Yu in connection with an event that had taken place in 2008. The anonymous articles described Wang Yu as "arrogant," "unreasonable," and a "shrew."

• "Woman Lawyer" Wang Yu Beat a Man Deaf and Was Sentenced, But Refuses to Comply with the Judgment and Still Runs Around '"Making a Living" ("女律师"王宇打人致聋被判刑 拒不执行判决仍四处"接活")
• Woman Injures Two People and Keeps Collecting Salary While Serving Sentence, After Release Works as a Fake Lawyer (女子连伤2人服刑期间吃空饷 出狱后当假律师)

This screenshot shows that, prior to Baidu instituting its censorship, the two Xinhua articles appeared three times at the bottom of Baidu's results.

The following screenshot shows that, after Baidu began restricting search results to central government news media outlets, the two articles appeared at the top of Baidu's search results, and comprised eight out of the ten search results on the first page (the other two articles related to a different individual named "Wang Yu."

Below are translated excerpts from the two articles.

"Woman Lawyer" Wang Yu Beat a Man Deaf and Was Sentenced, But Refuses to Comply with the Judgment and Still Runs Around '"Making a Living" ("女律师"王宇打人致聋被判刑 拒不执行判决仍四处"接活")

It was May 4, 2008, an early summer's day, and 18 year-old Zhang Gefei did as he always did, welcoming yet another nerve-wracking, but happy, day. He was a ticket collector for the Beijing Railway at the Tianjin West Station.
. . . .
Zhang Gefei was diligently doing his job, checking tickets, when he noticed a man and woman holding platform tickets intending to enter the station. Their tickets did not match the train number for that time, and so he stopped them. But he never imagined that, not only would they not cooperate, they would in fact proceed to create a scene. In his pure and honest heart, Zhang Gefei believed that every passenger would cooperate with the ticket examination when entering the station, how could anyone not follow the system prescribed by the rules? He never imagined that his devotion and earnestness would be repaid with a tragedy that would follow him for the rest of his life. This completely unreasonable woman refused to comply with the rules and suddenly began slapping Zhang Gefei on the left side of his face. The slap left Zhang Gefei momentarily stunned, and not only broke his concentration, but also broke the beautiful dreams that this boy had for giving his ordinary family a happy life through his own hard work.
. . . .
When all is said and one, a villain cannot escape the long arm of the law. Wang Yu was sentenced to 2 1/2 years imprisonment by the Tianjin Railway Court. Even though the court ordered her to compensate the Zhang Gefei over 130,000 yuan, after six years Wang Yu still refuses to pay up.
. . . .
Is this no longer a land of laws, is there no justice? Zhang Gefei is not the only one left perplexed. We too have to ask, who gave her this kind of power? Where is the black hand behind the curtain?

Today, because of his permanent hearing loss, Zhang Gefei sits at home waiting for a job. The pressure put on his family by his enormous hospital bills and unemployment has turned his mood extremely negative and prone to violent outburst of temper.
. . . .
It is this arrogant convict of a woman who in recent years has transformed herself into a lawyer ceaseless spewing rule of law, human rights, justice, while running around active and carefree waiving the flag of "rights defense." Zhang Gefei calls on the police and the courts to punish her, expose the true face of this hypocritical and false lawyer, and bring fairness and justice back to society!

那是2008年5月4日，一个初夏的日子。18岁的张格非像平常一样，迎接着他的紧张快乐的又一天，他是北京市铁路局天津西站的一名检票员。
. . . .
工作态度十分认真的张格非在检票时发现一男一女拿着站台票要进站，票和当时列车的车次不匹配，于是把他们阻拦下来。但没想到他们不仅不配合工作，还大吵大闹。在纯洁的张格非的心里，每一个乘客既然要进站就应该配合检查，怎么能不按规定制度办事呢？没想到就是他的坚持和认真，酿成了一个让他终身无法忘记的悲剧。这个蛮不讲理的女人在拒不服从规定的情况下突然甩手重重地打了张格非右脸腮部一个耳光。这记耳光一下把张格非打傻了，不仅打碎了他对工作的坚持，也打碎了这个希冀通过自己的努力让普通家人过上幸福生活的少年的美好梦想。
. . . .
恶人终究逃不出法律的严惩。王宇被天津铁路运输法院依法判处有期徒刑2年半。尽管法院判决其赔偿张格非13万多元，但六年来王宇一直拒绝赔偿。
. . . .
这世上还有没有王法，有没有公道？不仅仅张格非有这样的困惑，我们也要进一步追问，是谁给了她这样的权力？幕后的黑手在哪里？

现在，张格非因右耳永久性失聪，一直待业在家。巨额的医疗费用和待业在家的压力使得他的情绪变得极为消极，脾气也变得特别暴躁。
. . . .
就是这样一个嚣张跋扈、身背案底的女人，近几年居然摇身一变成为了律师，张口闭口法治、人权、正义，到处打着“维权”旗号活跃逍遥。张格非强烈要求公安、法院对其严惩，剥开这个伪善的假律师的真实面孔，还社会一个公平正义！

Woman Injures Two People and Keeps Collecting Salary While Serving Sentence, After Release Works as a Fake Lawyer (女子连伤2人服刑期间吃空饷 出狱后当假律师)

In 2008, Wang Yu was an employee of the Retired Cadre Administration, and held this status when she started serving her prison sentence in 2010. In 2012, the Retired Cadre Administration terminated her on the basis of her conviction. According to a response from an official at the Retired Cadre Administration, from 2006 to 2012, including the two years she was serving her prison sentence, Wang Yu used various excuses to refuse to pay taxes and benefits to the work unit, and for seven years collected a salary without doing any work.

An employee of the Retired Cadre Administration also disclosed that from June 1992 (when Wang Yu was 21) to May 2006, Wang Yu took up the position as Director of the "Committee for Caring for the Next Generation's Growth" in Ulan Hot. During that time she used her friend's connection to obtain fake internship credentials from a law firm, and thereby fraudulently acquired qualification as a lawyer. According to the relevant regulations on the legal profession, Wang Yu is under suspicion of falsifying her legal credentials.

How was it that a weak woman was able to physically beat up two people so quickly? Perhaps one clue can be derived from a statement by a security guard in district Wang Yu lived in in Ulan Hot. That year, when a person visited Wang Yu's residence during an investigation, a doorman opened their registration book, and therein could be found this word describing Wang Yu: "Shrew."

2008年，王宇打人时仍属于老干部局工作人员身份，并带着这个身份于2010年坐牢，2012年，老干部局因王宇获刑将其双开。据老干部局有关人员反映，从2006年至2012年，王宇一直以各种理由，拒绝向单位缴纳收益，连续七年“吃空饷”，包括其在监狱服刑的两年。

老干部局相关人士还透露，王宇1992年6月(时年21岁)至2006年5月在乌兰浩特老干部局工作，出任该局“关心下一代成长委员会”办公室主任。期间，王宇托朋友关系，获得律所假实习证明，骗取了律师执业资格。根据律师执业相关管理规定，王宇涉嫌律师执业履历造假。

一个弱女子如何能瞬间连伤两人？王宇原所在乌兰浩特市某小区保安的一句介绍或透露了原因，当年，有关人士前往王宇住所调查时，门卫人员打开登记本，上边对王宇的指代词竟然是“泼妇”二字。

Tool Used By Detained Lawyers Gets Attacked Day After Detentions Began, Day Before Being Mentioned in Government Report

On July 9, 2015, a Twitter user posted the following:

Someone is prying open the door at lawyer Wang Yu's home, and the power has been cut. Her husband and son are not home. Wang Yu has been accepting sensitive cases for several years. She was the attorney in the Jiansan River Case, the Fanmugen Case, and the recent Butcher Case, and the authorities have had their eye on her! The government media outlets will be soon be mobilized to smear her name! I hope people are paying attention!

王宇律师@wangyuLawer 家现有人撬门，家里被断电。老公儿子都不在家。王宇律师近年一直接一些敏感案件，建三江案，范木根案，这次屠夫案也是她在代理，被当局视为眼中钉。不惜动用部级单位媒体来打压抹黑她！望大家关注！

On July 10, 2015, the following announcement appeared on the Twitter account of Telegram Messenger:

At 11:09 pm on July 11, 2015, the Ministry of Public Security published the following announcement on its official "Strike the Four Evils, Eliminate the Four Harms" Sina Weibo:

[Ministry of Public Security Uncovers "Rights Defense" Plot] Over the past few days, the Ministry of Public Security has directed law enforcement agencies in Beijing elsewhere in a coordinated action to smash major criminal gang that used the Beijing Fengrui Law Firm as a platform to organize, plot, and hype-up over 40 sensitive incidents and severely disturb social order. A criminal enterprise has been brought to light comprising a large, well-organized, and tightly coordinated group of "rights defense" lawyers, provocateurs, and petitioners. 

【公安部揭开"维权"事件黑幕】近日，公安部部署指挥北京等地公安机关集中行动，摧毁以北京锋锐律师事务所为平台，先后组织策划炒作40余起敏感案事件、 严重扰乱社会秩序的重大犯罪团伙。一个由"维权"律师、推手、"访民"相互勾连，组织严密、人数众多、分工精细的犯罪团伙浮出水面…

That post linked to a 4,000+ character article co-authored by Huang Qingchang (黄庆畅) from the People's Daily and Zou Wei (邹伟) from Xinhua entitled "Ministry of Public Security Uncovers "Rights Defense" Plot" (公安部揭开“维权”事件黑幕). An excerpt:

How did such a large group communicate and maintain coordination? Police discovered that they held regular organization meetings, dinner parties, exchanged "work experience," and discussed planning. They also used real time communication tools such as Weixin, QQ Groups, and "Telegram" to carry out their plans to incite and launch trainings. There are many groups like this, with some making a name for themselves at flashpoints, some making a name for themselves through targeted operations, and making a name for themselves through mutual self-interest.

Zhai Yanmin confessed that "'Telegram' was used mainly for organizing and making connections, and the talk found therein was basically all attacking the Party and the government. . . . We used it to plan and organize all sorts of solidarity actions, and since we didn't want to let the government know, we could have images and text erased at fixed times."

这么大的群体，如何联系并保持行动一致？警方查明，他们一方面定期组织聚会、聚餐，交流“经验心得”，商讨行动计划；另一方面，通过微信、ＱＱ群和“电报”等即时通讯工具沟通联络，进行煽动策划、开展业务培训。类似的群有很多，有的以热点事件命名，有的以行动目标命名，有的以共同利益命名。

“‘电报’主要用于组织串联，里面的言论基本都是攻击党和政府的。”翟岩民供述，“我们在里面策划、组织各种声援活动，可以设定时间删除图片和文字，就是不想让政府知道。”

 On July 13, 2014, Telegram posted a notice on its website entitled "A DDoS in Asia Pacific." Some excerpts:

Telegram's Asia Pacific server cluster has been under a DDoS attack since Friday morning.
. . . .
The garbage traffic came from about a hundred thousand infected servers, most noticeably, in LeaseWeb B.V., Hetzner Online AG, PlusServer AG, NFOrce Entertainment BV, Amazon and Comcast networks. That said, the attack was distributed evenly across thousands of hosts and none contributed more than 5% of the total volume.
. . . .
By now we know that the attack is being coordinated from East Asia.

We've noticed a three-fold increase in signups from South Korea in the last two weeks. The last time we were hit by a massive DDoS was in late September, 2014, in the wake of the South Korean privacy scandal when signups from that country spiked as well.

Related posts:

• Wu Gan Jailed for Insulting Judge, Baidu and Sina Weibo Censor Search Results for "Wu Gan"
• Sina Weibo Begins Censoring Names of Lawyers Wang Yu and Li Heping
• Sina Weibo Hides Censorship of Lawyers Being "Disappeared" on "Black Friday"
• Sina Weibo Censors "Lawyer Chang Boyang" and "Lawyer Jiang Tianyong"
• Chinese Police "Smash" "Criminal Gang" of "Rights Defense" Lawyers For "Hyping" 
• Baidu Censors "Attorney Wang Yu" - Lawyer Detained for "Hyping Up" "Sensitive Incidents"

After Arrest of "Rights Defense" Activist Wu Gan, State Media Launches Smear Campaign

On May 19, 2015 Wu Gan" (吴淦) was ordered held in administrative detention for 10 days on the grounds that he violated clauses 1 and 2 of Article 23 of the Public Security Administration Punishments Law (中华人民共和国治安管理处罚法), which make it illegal to:

1. disturb the order of government departments, public organizations, enterprises or institutions, thus making it impossible for work, production, business operation, medical care, teaching or scientific research to go on normally but not having caused serious losses; 
2. disturb the public order at stations, ports, wharves, airports, department stores, parks, exhibition halls or other public places.

Among Wu Gan’s actions cited in the sentencing document was his “insulting the head of this court, Zhang Zhonghou.” (辱骂该院院长张忠厚).

On May 27, Wu Gan, who often uses the online name "Super Vulgar Butcher," was formally arrested by Fujian police.

China's search engines and social media censored search results about Wu Gan and restricted information that Internet users could find to news media outlets licensed by the central government. See: Wu Gan Jailed for Insulting Judge, Baidu and Sina Weibo Censor Search Results for "Wu Gan" 

On May 28, 2015, the People's Daily, the official mouthpiece of the Chinese Communist Party, published an article on page 11 of its print edition entitled "Wu Gan Arrested on Suspicion of Committing the Crimes of Provoking Quarrels and Defamation: Revealing the True Face of the 'Super Vulgar Butcher" (涉嫌寻衅滋事罪、诽谤罪的吴淦被依法刑拘: 揭开“超级低俗屠夫”真面目).  The subheadings of the article were:

• What Has He Been Up To? (他干过怎样的事？)
• What Tricks Does He Typically Use? (他惯用哪些伎俩？)
• What Kind of Person Is He? (他是个啥样的人)

Some excerpts:

He held a job as a real estate agent and started some companies with friends, and they all ended in failure. Incapable of doing any real business, he started immersing himself online on forum and writing blogs.
. . . .
Wu Gan sprang to fame during the Deng Yujiao incident after he entered the hospital and had his picture taken with Deng Yujiao and posted it online. Having gotten a taste of fame, Wu Gan became fond of chasing after popular events.
. . . .
Wu Gan made certain leading cadres fear he would cause trouble and blow things out of proportion, and he often began with Party and government officials in charge, and exerted pressure on the government involved in handling an affair.
. . . .
In 2012 the Fuqing police investigated a case involving one of Wu Gan's relatives. In order to further his personal interests, Wu Gan insulted the police station's leaders, and threatened to "set up a mourning hall for the officer's entire family so that Fuqing's petitioners could come and pay their respects." In addition to this, he also blackened the good name of Lin Wanlin, who had been named by a Model Hero in the Second Degree of the State Public Security System for sacrificing for the public good. . . .
. . . .
Its not hard to see that, in order to put pressure on leaders and achieve his personal goals, it can be said there was nothing that Wu Gan would not do, and even children were not out of bounds.
. . . .
"Wherever there was excitement, that's where he'd go, like some kind of promiscuos fly, he would flutter off anywhere, and the only thing he feared was peace: Mr. Chen, who had personally witnessed Wu Gan raising the flag of "Rights Defense" to further the personal interests of his relatives in Jinan, Fuzhou, says he has nothing but contempt for people like him.
. . . .
News that the Internet user "Super Vulgar Butcher" Wu Gan had been arrested did not come as much of a surprise to folks from his home town. "Wu Gan's home environment had quite an influence on him." A village elder expressed a certain degree of pity: "He was too mouthy, and was bound to have an 'incident' sooner or later."
. . . .
When they speak of Wu Gan's family, most neighbors shake their heads. His father was a live-in-son-in-law, and his mother died of illness when he was 14. In 1998, his father was sentenced to three years imprisonment after he organized a group of smash a chicken farm, and attacked police who had been sent to deal with the situation. . . . . His brother is still wanted by the police in connection with a 2006 scheme to abscond with over 710,000 yuan in funds obtained through a fraudulent subcontracting manufacturing arrangement.
. . . .
Two of Wu Gan's former coworkers had similar assessments: He once wrote a novel on the company Intranet, but it was vulgar; his work was generally sloppy, and several times it almost led to his being fired.
. . . .
A court judgment in a civil lawsuit states "he is almost never home," "in 2002 he was discovered to have had an affair," his first wife divorced him. . . .
. . . .
According to public security agencies, Wu Gan has been subjected to administrative detention three times for falsifying documents, driving without a license, and disturbing public order.
. . . .
他干过房产中介，也和朋友合伙开过公司，都以失败告终。正事干不成，他就开始在网上泡论坛、写博客。
. . . .
在湖北邓玉娇事件中，吴淦进入医院与邓玉娇拍照合影、上网发布，在网络上一举成名。尝到甜头后，吴淦就特别热衷关注热点事件。
. . . .
吴淦抓住一些领导干部怕惹事、怕炒作的心理，常常从党政机关主要领导“下手”，给涉事政府施加压力。
. . . .
2012年，福清市公安局侦办一起涉及吴淦亲属的案子。吴淦为了达到他的个人目的，就对该局领导进行辱骂，并威胁“为局长全家设灵堂让福清访民来祭拜”。此外，他还抹黑该局因公牺牲的全国公安系统二级英模林万霖 . . . .
. . . .
不难看出，为了给领导施压，达到个人目的，吴淦可谓无所不用其极，甚至连孩子也不放过。
. . . .
“哪里热闹他就往哪里跑，就像逐臭的苍蝇，到处飞来飞去，唯恐天下不乱。”曾经目睹吴淦在福州晋安区打着“维权”旗号、为亲戚牟利的全过程，陈先生表达了他对这种人的无比厌恶.
. . . .
网民“超级低俗屠夫”吴淦被拘留的消息并没有让乡亲们感到太大的意外。“家庭氛围对吴淦的影响不小。”村里年岁大的老人有些惋惜；“他的言行太过分，迟早会‘出事’。”村里爱上网的年轻人早有预感。
. . . .
谈及吴淦的家庭，村民大多摇头。他父亲徐某某是上门女婿，母亲在他14岁时病逝； 1998年，他父亲因组织一帮人打砸养鸡场，并围攻前去处置的民警，被判处有期徒刑3年，又因在服刑期间越狱增加刑期1年；他哥哥在2006年以代加工半成品为由，伙同他人骗取贷款71万余元后潜逃，目前还是公安机关网上追逃对象。
. . . .
这两位前同事的评价差不多：在公司内网上写过一篇所谓的长篇小说，但很低俗；平时工作吊儿郎当，几次差点到了被开除的地步。
. . . .
法院的一份民事判决书显示：“经常不着家”“2002年发现他有外遇”，前妻要与他离婚. . . .
. . . .
据公安机关介绍，吴淦曾因伪造证件、无证驾驶和扰乱公共秩序，先后3次被公安机关行政拘留。

Also on May 28, 2015, the front page headline of the Police Daily, the official mouthpiece of China's Ministry of Public Security, read: "Suspected of Committing the Crimes of Provoking Quarrels and Defamation, Doubts are Raised about Satirical 'Rights Defense'" (涉嫌寻衅滋事罪和诽谤罪 恶搞式“维权”遭质疑). Most of the sources cited in the article came from anonymous Internet posters. Some excerpts:

On May 27, the Internet user Wu Gan "Super Vulgar Butcher," who had previously been subjected to administrative detention for disturbing order at a work unit and publicly insulting others, was formally arrested by Fujian police on suspicion of picking quarrels and defamation. Currently, police are carrying out an investigation.
. . . .
Although this time the police only publicized Wu Gan's actions in the Nanchang disturbance, some Internet users have compiled lists of a series of satirical so-called "rights defense" actions that he has participated in over the years. One Internet user said "kindness and tolerance has allowed this petty clown 'Butcher' to step into the limelight time and again to manufacture farces." Another Internet user said "The 'Butcher' is just another troublemaker looking to 'stir shit up.' Wherever there are people gathering to make noises, that's where you will find him looking for an opportunity to hype-up the situation." Internet user "I Love the Lady in the Moon" said on one forum: "Over the past few years there has been a constant stream of information about Wu Gan cheating people's money. Now that they are punishing him, its like a lesson for all Internet users."
. . . .
One Internet user summed up Wu Gan's approach to rights defense as "Right Defense Day Trips": "At the moment things get going he rushes to scene where people are gathering, takes some photos with them, and then heads to the relevant 'government office' to wander around. If its possible he'll submit some bullshit made-up 'application' or 'letter of complaint' and then post these images online along with some superficial explanations. Finally, at the critical moment he'll announce he's taking donations in a certain bank account, and call on Internet users to make a contribution." The Internet user points out that Wu Gan's goal in participating in every event "is making money."

On the Kaidi Forum, from May to November 2009 an Internet user published over 10 posts casting suspicions on "the Butcher," pointing out that "the Butcher" had insulted reporters and others, was already under suspicion of committing crimes, and noted that a series of actions taken by "the Butcher" had been done in order to collect donations.

5月27日，此前因扰乱单位秩序、公然侮辱他人被行政拘留的网民“超级低俗屠夫”吴淦，因涉嫌寻衅滋事罪和诽谤罪，被福建警方依法刑事拘留。目前，警方正在做进一步调查。
. . . .
虽然此次警方只是公布了吴淦在南昌闹事的行为，但还有网民列举了其多年来参与恶搞的一系列所谓“维权”行动。有网民称“善良和宽容，让‘屠夫’这种跳梁小丑一再登台亮相、制造闹剧”，还有网民称“‘屠夫’就是个唯恐天下不乱的‘搅屎棍’，哪里有热点，哪里就有他借机炒作”。网民“我爱嫦娥”在评论中说，“这几年关于吴淦骗钱的消息从未间断过，这次对其依法处理，算是给所有网民一个交待了”。
. . . .
有网民总结了吴淦的维权轨迹，将其称为“维权一日游”：“第一时间冲到当事人所在地，先合影，然后到相关‘衙门’走一圈，如有可能还会递交一些狗屁不通、涂涂改改的所谓‘申请书’、‘控告信’，再然后将这些照片发到网上，加几句不痛不痒的话，最后就到了最关键的环节，公布捐款账号，呼吁网民捐款。”指出吴淦参与的所有事件，“其目的都是为了钱”。

同在凯迪社区，从2009年5月起至当年11月，一网民发表了十余篇质疑“屠夫”的帖子，指出“屠夫”侮辱媒体记者等，已经涉嫌刑事犯罪，并指称“屠夫”的一系列行为就是为了募集捐款。

The following day the Beijing Daily also published an article in its print edition similarly outlining Wu Gan's various business failings, firings, relationship problems, and family difficulties. Below is the graphic that accompanied the article.

Baidu Censors "Attorney Wang Yu" - Lawyer Detained for "Hyping Up" "Sensitive Incidents"

 Related posts:

• Wu Gan Jailed for Insulting Judge, Baidu and Sina Weibo Censor Search Results for "Wu Gan"
• Sina Weibo Begins Censoring Names of Lawyers Wang Yu and Li Heping
• Sina Weibo Hides Censorship of Lawyers Being "Disappeared" on "Black Friday"
• Sina Weibo Censors "Lawyer Chang Boyang" and "Lawyer Jiang Tianyong"
• Chinese Police "Smash" "Criminal Gang" of "Rights Defense" Lawyers For "Hyping"

On July 14, 2015, the state sponsored Global Times published an editorial entitled "US Sings Old Tune Over Radical Lawyers" (拘留滋事律师，美国反应可以藐视). Some excerpts:

The US State Department Sunday made a high-profile intervention over China's recent detention of "rights protection" lawyers who are suspected of committing crimes. It accused China of having "systematically detained individuals who share the common attribute of peacefully defending the rights of others."
. . . .
The detentions are China's internal affairs. Specifically, taking away lawyers from Beijing Fengrui Law Firm should serve to increase understanding among Chinese lawyers and promote China's rule of law as much as possible.
. . . .
Apparently some lawyers have doubts about the recent detentions. This may partly stem from sympathy for their peers and meanwhile over long-standing disputes on the boundaries of democracy and the rule of law. Western values have infiltrated intensely in this respect and damaged some important basic consensuses.
. . . .
The crackdown of the criminal gang involving several rights lawyers is a step toward realizing China's social stability, through which Chinese should acquire more confidence in the ideological contention between China and the West. It is more than a struggle for peace, but rather a struggle for hearts and minds.

美国国务院12日高调介入中国警方拘留涉嫌犯罪的“维权律师”一事，指责中方“有组织扣留”一些“和平捍卫他人权益”的人士。
. . . .
这件事是中国的内部事务。这句话的含义之一是，让对锋锐律所涉案律师的抓捕得到中国律师界更广泛的理解，让此事最大限度地促进中国民主法治建设，比我们思考如何回击美方的指责或许更重要。
. . . .
毋庸讳言，律师界内有人对警方的这次行动存在困惑，这或许有一部分来自于行业内部的“同病相怜”，就像有记者犯案被抓时，新闻圈内会天然多一些人觉得有必要帮着说几句话。还有一部分来自对民主和法治边界的长期争议，不能不说，西方价值观近年来对这个领域渗透了大量影响，使得一些相当重要的基础性共识遭到了破坏。
. . . .
打掉一个有“维权律师”涉嫌参与的犯罪团伙，不仅要实现中国社会治安的进一步平稳，还要力促国人在中西意识形态的争议点上更加自信和团结，这既是法律和治安之战，也是人心争夺战。而我们向后一场战役的投入程度，一点也不应当比对待前一场战役的认真程度低。

These screenshots show that on the evening of July 14, Baidu began censoring search results for the phrase "Attorney Wang Yu."

Chinese Police "Smash" "Criminal Gang" of "Rights Defense" Lawyers For "Hyping"

Related posts:

• Sina Weibo Begins Censoring Names of Lawyers Wang Yu and Li Heping
• Sina Weibo Hides Censorship of Lawyers Being "Disappeared" on "Black Friday"
• Sina Weibo Censors "Lawyer Chang Boyang" and "Lawyer Jiang Tianyong"

These screenshots were taken on July 12, 2015, and show that Sina Weibo was censoring search results for “Rights Defense Lawyers,” and that Baidu had banned users of its PostBar (Tieba 贴吧) service from establishing a forum on the topic of “Rights Defense Lawyers.”

At 11:09 pm on July 11, 2015, the Ministry of Public Security published the following announcement on its official "Strike the Four Evils, Eliminate the Four Harms" Sina Weibo:

[Ministry of Public Security Uncovers "Rights Defense" Plot] Over the past few days, the Ministry of Public Security has directed law enforcement agencies in Beijing elsewhere in a coordinated action to smash major criminal gang that used the Beijing Fengrui Law Firm as a platform to organize, plot, and hype-up over 40 sensitive incidents and severely disturb social order. A criminal enterprise has been brought to light comprising a large, well-organized, and tightly coordinated group of "rights defense" lawyers, provocateurs, and petitioners.
【公安部揭开"维权"事件黑幕】近日，公安部部署指挥北京等地公安机关集中行动，摧毁以北京锋锐律师事务所为平台，先后组织策划炒作40余起敏感案事件、严重扰乱社会秩序的重大犯罪团伙。一个由"维权"律师、推手、"访民"相互勾连，组织严密、人数众多、分工精细的犯罪团伙浮出水面…

That post linked to a 4,000+ character article co-authored by Huang Qingchang (黄庆畅) from the People's Daily and Zou Wei (邹伟) from Xinhua entitled "Ministry of Public Security Uncovers "Rights Defense" Plot" (公安部揭开“维权”事件黑幕). Some excerpts:

Why is that at the scenes of a series of recent major public incidents time and again lawyers step in to take the lead in creating disturbances and masses of "petitioners" hold up signs stirring up trouble? Why is it that outside the courthouses in a string of sensitive cases time and again we have seen trial judges and government officials become the targets of slanderous attacks and online vigilanteism? Why is that in a series of cases where people are behind the scenes making mountains out of molehills, there is always a group of people stirring up trouble and hidden hands manipulating the situation?
. . . .
Criminal suspects Zhai Yanmin, Wu Gan, and Liu Xing have provided the answers: these are all the work of their "rights defense group."
. . . .
"Ever since I joined the group in 2013, as soon as any kind of sensitive domestic event occurred, they would deploy a fixed model and workflow to hype-up the situation," Zhai Yanmin said. "Rights defense" lawyers would typically distribute video and picture of certain sensitive events to their Weixin groups, along with certain polemical and inciting opinions. If the event failed to generate enough interest, the "rights defense" lawyers would go directly to the scene of the event. At that time, certain people would organize "petitioners," who would go to the scene to express "calls for support" under the guise of seeking to learn what really happened, and thereby draw the attention and interest of the general public.
. . . .
Where did the funding for these "calls for support" come from? Zhai Yanmin and Liu Xing have confessed: every time there was a campaign to call for support, they would solicit donations online, and sometimes would receive financial support from abroad. Petitioners from all over would receive payments and subsidies if they wanted to go somewhere to call for support. Zhai Yanmin said "During some activities the lawyers group would give us some money, and I would give some of it to the people participating in the call for support, and I would keep some for myself."
. . . .
According to police officers involved in the case, whenever a sensitive case happened to pop up, these "die hard faction" lawyers would openly oppose the courts in the courts and online, and would maneuver behind the scenes to direct and incite stirring up trouble and shore up the organization of petitioners outside the courts and online to voice calls for support and stir up trouble, create echo chambers in China and overseas, exploit reciprocal relationships, and become the direct driving forces behind hyping-up sensitive events.
. . . .
As for the methods used by agents of the Fengrui Law Firm to hype up cases, many criminal suspects described them as "New, Rare, Special."

New means needing new approaches so that lawyers needed follow legal process as had been the case formerly. Zhou Shifeng once described it to Zhai Yanmin this way: "The law enforcement agencies obey the police, the courts obey the judges, whatever they say goes and no one dares oppose them. That's unacceptable. What's needed is to be somewhat willful, don't just do as they say, and handle things in accordance with our own aspirations.

Rare means being able to get some "rare individuals" like Wu Gan to appear. Make use of the "special aptitude" of these individual who "have the courage and the will to fight," to achieve things that average people couldn't achieve. For example, Wu Gan once put the face of a female cadre onto the body of a naked model, and shared it online with the tag "Sleeping Every Day." He also once set up a "mourning hall" for a senior leader in front of a courthouse gate.

Special means certain special methods, such as making online and offline calls for people to pay attention to the cases they are representing; filing reports and complaints against judges, police, and government officials while calling on Internet users to engage in online vigilantism, all in order to put pressure on them; organizing parties to disputes and their friends and family as well as outsiders to besiege judicial agencies in order to exert pressure on them, and achieve proxy results beyond that which would normally have been through the legal system.

一系列热点事件的现场，为何屡屡出现律师挑头闹事、众多“访民”举牌滋事？一系列敏感案件的庭外，为何屡屡出现主审法官、主管官员被诋毁攻击、人肉搜索？一系列案事件被炒热的背后，为何总有一批人兴风作浪，总有一只恶意操纵之手若隐若现？
. . . .
犯罪嫌疑人翟岩民、吴淦、刘星给出了答案：这都是他们“维权圈”里的人干的。
. . . .
“从我２０１３年进入这个圈子，只要国内发生一些敏感事件，他们就按这种固定的模式和流程进行炒作。”翟岩民说。“维权”律师经常在微信群里发某个敏感事件的视频或照片，以及一些极具煽动性的看法。如果事件没有炒起来，“维权”律师就会直接到现场去。这时，就会有一些人组织“访民”，打着追求事实真相的幌子去现场“声援”，以此引起社会关注和热议。
. . . .
“声援”活动的资金从何而来？翟岩民、刘星等人供述：每次有声援活动的时候，他们会在网上募捐，有时也会得到境外资助。各地的访民谁想去声援，都能得到一些报酬和补助。“有些活动，律师群体也会给我们一些钱，我会把钱分给去参加声援活动的人，自己留下一部分。”翟岩民说。
. . . .
办案民警介绍，遇有敏感案事件，这些“死磕”律师在庭内、网上公开对抗法庭，并幕后指使挑头滋事骨干组织访民在庭外、网下声援滋事，内外呼应，相互借力，成为炒作敏感案事件的直接推动力。
. . . .
对于锋锐所律师代理炒作案件的做法，多名犯罪嫌疑人将其描述为“新、奇、特”：

新，就是要有新思路，让律师不要像以往那样按照法律程序走。“在公安机关听警察的，在法庭听法官的，他们说什么是什么、不敢反抗，那样是不行的。要强势一些，不要听他们的，按照自己的意愿来处理。”周世锋曾这样告诉翟岩民。

奇，就是能请到一些像吴淦这样的“奇人”。发挥这种人“敢冲敢打”的“特长”，做出一些常人做不出的事。比如，吴淦曾经把一女干部头像贴在裸体模特模型上，在网上直播“每日一睡”；也曾在法院门口给某高院领导“设灵堂”。

特，就是用一些特别的方式，例如，在网上网下声援炒作围观他们代理的案件；举报、投诉主审法官、办案民警和当地官员，号召网民对他们人肉搜索，给他们施压；组织案件当事人、亲友以及不相干的人围攻政法机关，以此向政法机关施压，达到在正常法律制度内无法达到的代理效果。
. . . .
那么，这些“维权”律师、推手和“访民”在一次次“维权”炒作中能获取什么好处？他们这样做是否还有更深层的目的？

黄力群、翟岩民、吴淦、刘星等人供述，他们的目的就是扬名获利、制造社会混乱。这种炒作模式之下，每一个环节的参与者都有利可图——
对于律师而言，本身有一定的社会地位，他们介入后使得事件、案件的关注度更高，造成的社会影响更大，律师也会因此提高自己的知名度，如果能代理还能挣代理费。

对于律所里的非律师人员，例如吴淦，“在炒作敏感事件中，既提高了名气，扩大了影响力，而且在每次募捐中借机敛财，落下了不少钱。”又如，负责向境外网站发“声援”新闻的人员，“他们发完东西署自己的名字，那些网站的人会找到他们，给他们钱。”

对于“访民”而言，尽管与这些敏感事件没有关系，但他们参与其中，首先能够借机让自身诉求得到律师的援助；其次，能够引起自己家乡政府的关注，对于解决自身诉求有利；同时，还能得到一些经济方面的利益，除了差旅费实报实销之外，还能得到数百元的补助，如果被拘留还有“拘留补贴”。
. . . .
目前，周世锋、刘四新、黄力群、王宇、王全璋、包龙军等多名犯罪嫌疑人被公安机关依法刑事拘留。另据警方披露，周世锋等人涉嫌其他严重违法犯罪。案件还在进一步侦办中。

Sina Weibo Censors "Lawyer Chang Boyang" and "Lawyer Jiang Tianyong"

Related posts:

• Sina Weibo Begins Censoring Names of Lawyers Wang Yu and Li Heping
• Sina Weibo Hides Censorship of Lawyers Being "Disappeared" on "Black Friday"

These screenshots show that on July 11, 2015, Sina Weibo began censoring search results for “Lawyer Chang Boyang” (常伯阳律师) and “Lawyer Jiang Tianyong” (江天勇律师).

Sina Weibo Hides Censorship of Lawyers Being "Disappeared" on "Black Friday"

On July 12, 2015, the state sponsored Global Times published an editorial entitled “Radical Lawyers are Making a Mockery of the Profession.” Some excerpts:

China's Ministry of Public Security recently cracked down on a "major criminal gang," including the Beijing Fengrui Law Firm, for creating trouble and disturbing social order.
. . . .
In reporting this case, the foreign media highlighted the human rights lawyers' "loss of communication" and "disappearance." But the authority responded quickly this time with detailed information. "Lawyers' disappearance" has become a term to smear China's judicial system. 

As noted in this blog yesterday, on the evening of July 10, 2015, Sina Weibo began censoring search results for the names of certain Chinese lawyers. As the screenshots below show, at that time Sina Weibo began displaying a censorship notice when users searched for "Li Heping" (李和平律师).

 The screenshot below was taken in the evening of July 11th, and shows that when a user searched for "Lawyer Li Heping," they were no longer told that results are being censored. Instead, they were left with the impression that there has not been a single post on Sina Weibo about Li Heping since April 5.

These screenshots shots show that around the same time, Sina Weibo began censoring "Lawyers Disappeared" (律师 被失踪 - perhaps more precisely translated as "Lawyers Have Been Disappeared"). Sina did not, however, provide any kind of notification of their censorship, instead leaving users to believe that not a single post containing that phrase had been made in 2015.

These screenshots show that Sina adopted a similar censorship method for the term "Black Friday Lawyers" (黑色星期五 律师).

Sina Weibo Begins Censoring Names of Lawyers Wang Yu and Li Heping

These screenshots show that on the evening of July 10, 2015, Sina Weibo began censoring search results for the names of two Beijing-based lawyers - Wang Yu (王宇律师) and Li Heping (李和平律师).

Baidu and Sina Begin Censoring Searches for "Xiao Gang Step Down"

On July 2, 2015, the state sponsored China Daily published an article entitled “Fee Cut and Margin Trading Relaxed to Save the Market.” Some excerpts:

China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) announced a string of supportive policies, including a 30-percent transaction fee cut and relaxation on margin trading rules, as fears grow for a market plunge.
The amended rules on margin trading, whose draft were scheduled to be on public consultation till July 11, were released on Wednesday evening "in haste for special circumstances", said the securities watchdog on its official microblog weibo.
Market volatility has increased over the past two weeks as investors diverge on whether A-share's year-long bull was peaked.
The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index sank 5.2 percent to close at 4,053.7 on Wednesday, following its biggest swing since 1992 of 432 points.
. . . .
Xiao Gang, chairman of the CSRC, signed off the revised rules on Wednesday, which are effective immediately.

These screenshots show that on the evening July 6, 2015, Baidu began censoring search results for “Xiao Gang Step Down” (肖钢 下台). Although for some reason it also indicated it was able locate an additional 1/2 million search results.

The most obvious impact of the censorship was the disappearance of the section entitled “Most Recent Weibo Results” (最新微博结果).

These screenshots show that at around the same time, Sina Weibo began censoring search results for “Xiao Gang Step Down.” Although it did not display a censorship notice, the censorship was obvious as it no longer displayed any users' posts (as it had the previous day), and instead was restricting search results to “Related Articles.”

Search Engine and Social Media Censorship of Wang Qishan

Wang Qishan (王岐山) currently serves on China's Politburo Standing Committee.

These screenshots show that on May 28, 2015 Sina Weibo began censoring search results for "Wang Qishan Morgan" (王岐山 摩根).

These screenshots show that on the morning of February 1, 2013, Baidu was restricting search results for "Wang Qishan Luxury Homes" (王岐山 豪宅) to its broad white list, which comprises dozens of large China-based news web sites and web portals such as Sohu, Hexun, Phoenix, and Sina. By that afternoon, Baidu was restricting search results for the same query to its strict white list, which comprises only about one dozens web sites controlled by the central government and the Communist Party such as Xinhua and the People's Daily. The screenshot on the far right shows that when users asked Baidu to restrict the query results to Sohu, Hexun, Phoenix, or Sina, Baidu displayed no results, just a censorship notice.

These screenshots, taken on February 2,  2013 show that a search for "Yao Mingshan" (姚明珊 - Wang Qishan's wife) on Sogou returned apparently uncensored results, while a search for "Yao Mingshan Luxury Homes" returned no results, only a censorship notice.

These screenshots, also taken on February 2, 2013 show that searches for "Yao Mingshan" on Baidu and Yahoo.cn returned apparently uncensored results, while a search for "Yao Mingshan Luxury Home Villas" (姚明珊 豪宅别墅) returned no results, only a censorship notice.