Qiao Long | Radio Free Asia
[caption id="attachment_4869" align="alignleft" width="300"] Cai Ying (C) at the Yiyang Intermediate People’s Court, Sept. 18, 2015. (courtesy of a supporter)[/caption]
A court in the central Chinese province of Hunan on Friday began hearing a second attempt at a compensation claim lodged by a prominent rights lawyer who says he was tortured during an 87-day secret detention at the hands of the authorities.
Cai Ying is suing the authorities over his treatment during his detention under “residential surveillance” on alleged charges of bribery, perjury and fraud, ordered by state prosecutors in his home city of Yuanjiang from July-October 2012.
Cai was released and the charges dropped after a letter he wrote about his ordeal found its way onto the Internet, and he received an official apology.
Now, he wants formal compensation from the government.
Cai is being represented by top Beijing rights lawyers Zhang Lei, who heads the Linzhenghan law firm, and colleague Li Fangping.
“We began the cross-examination. The main point of debate was around whether the case [against Cai] should have been brought in the first place, and the legality of that,” Li said.
“We followed due process the whole way, and they couldn’t reach a detailed legal opinion, and [the witnesses] refused to answer a lot of questions; they just avoided them.”
He said Cai had also tendered new evidence in support of his claim that he was framed by the authorities in the first place.
“This is clear and direct evidence that he was framed by judicial authorities,” Li said.