Jinan activist lawyer detained

A lawyer from Jinan, Shandong Province was taken from his home by police on Monday night and put under criminal detention, his wife told the Global Times saying authorities are holding him because he has written extensively about the shady deals of local government officials on his blog.

For more than a year Shu Xiangxin, 43, has written about his conflicts with local authorities, alleging they attempted to bribe him to drop a law suit brought by farmers that would "humiliate" the government.

Shu's wife, Liu Xiuqin, said five police officers came to the couple's home around 11 pm Monday night and detained Shu accusing him of blackmail.

The Jinan police said on their official Weibo that they had "abundant evidence" of Shu's crime and will publish the results of their investigation in due time.

When contacted by the Global Times Tuesday they refused to answer questions.

Liu wrote about her husband's detention on her Weibo, posting a plea for help along with her phone number.

In a recent blog posting Shu wrote that he had been beaten and harassed by local mobsters.

He claims the attack was related to defending farmers whose land had been forcibly taken away by the government of Guanxian county, Shandong Province.

Shu also wrote in April 2011 that the head of discipline inspection commission of Guangxian county, Han Jinfang, tried to bribe him in return for dropping the case against the local government.

"He offered my husband 800,000 yuan ($128,108) to remain silent but we refused to be bought," Liu said.

Shu has continued to push the case and posted an article on tieba.baidu.com, a popular online forum, accusing county party secretary, Hong Yuzhen, for abuse of power.

A week or so later, he alleged that the Guanxian county government sent four mobsters to Shu's office to scare him off.

"They slapped his face and threatened to hurt our children if my husband refused to give up the case," Liu said.

Shu was later accused by the Jinan City People's Congress of "blackmailing the government."

His wife said the accusation centered on the bribe money that he did not take.

Shu's license to practice law was suspended and his office was shut down by the Jinan City Bureau of Justice in May 2011, Shu wrote on his blog. He was detained in June 2011 but released within 24 hours.

"The police didn't press any charges then but now say he is a criminal. I asked them who my husband had blackmailed, they told me I was not authorized to know," said Liu.

The Guanxian county government could not be reached for comment on Tuesday.

Wang Cailiang, a lawyer from the All China Lawyers Association specializing in demolition regulations, said that he told Shu improper measures had been taken in the case but not serious enough to get him disbarred.

"I suggested a good talk with local authorities, but a serious investigation is needed to find out who is to blame in the case," Wang told the Global Times.