Crimes against a Chinese Lawyer

As reported by the New York Times and elsewhere today, Mr. Li Heping (picture), a Beijing lawyer and human rights activist, was abducted and beaten repeatedly by a group of thugs last Saturday. Based on his own descriptions of the event, he was threatened to leave Beijing with his family, and not surprisingly, he returned home to find his law license stolen.

Without venturing to speculate the hows and whys, I only wanted to express my admiration for his dedication to his profession, his conviction to his beliefs, and his courage to withstand known and unknown dangers ahead. As can be seen, privileges, plush life style, and security do not always accompany the practice of law. I guess lawyers are “hated” everywhere, at times.