Crackdown on Chinese lawyers and human rights activists is sign of worsening arena for dissent | Democracy, elections and voting at Democracy Chronicles

The director of a high-profile law firm in Beijing has pleaded guilty to disorder charges, marking a 10-day government crackdown on human rights lawyers and activists. Since July 9, more than 200 lawyers and activists have been targeted in what Amnesty International called an “unprecedented” spree of detentions and police questioning. Director Zhou Shifeng of Fengrui…

SHANGHAI — Chinese state media say a leading civil rights lawyer, whose company is at the heart of a recent roundup of legal professionals that has attracted international condemnation, has confessed to breaking the law. Chinese media have accused Zhou Shifeng and his company, Fengrui Law Firm, of being at the core of “a criminal gang”…