Shanghai rights lawyer detained after jail release

BEIJING, (AFP) A prominent Shanghai rights lawyer was detained briefly, a month after he was released from a three-year jail term for helping residents fight land-grab cases, his relatives said Thursday.

Zheng Enchong, who ran afoul of authorities for pursuing hundreds of cases involving disputes over Shanghai's urban redevelopment projects, was detained for two hours late Wednesday, his sister-in-law said.

His wife, Jiang Meili, who was summoned earlier in the evening, was detained for about four hours by police, said the relative who declined to give her name.

"I saw more than 10 people entering their home... they took some stuff from their home, like computers and other things," she told AFP "He has been deprived of his political rights," she said, adding that she thought he had been detained because of something he had published or something he said.

Police summoned Zheng for allegedly "breaching administrative laws and regulations and... public security authorities' supervisory rules during a period of deprivation of political rights," New York-based Human Rights in China said in a statement.

His wife was accused of "impeding state officials in the execution of their duties," the rights group said, quoting sources.

Among the seized documents was a letter Zheng had written to President Hu Jintao and Premier Wen Jiabao, it said. Zheng's sister-in-law said the lawyer had been barred from speaking to the media. "They are not allowed to be in touch with the media... they are also being followed when they are out," she said.

Zheng was released in early June, after serving a three-year jail term for "illegally providing state secrets to entities outside of China."

Since his release, he has been under effective house arrest and is under constant police surveillance, Human Rights in China said.

In 2003, Zheng had faxed two public documents, which the Shanghai Secrets Bureau later deemed confidential, to the US-based rights group.

The charge of passing secrets to foreigners is one commonly used by the country's ruling Communist Party to clamp down on Chinese citizens who oppose the government.

Zheng, who according to rights groups was beaten in prison, had always maintained his innocence. He said before his conviction that he had been arrested on trumped-up charges after he offended Shanghai Communist Party officials by alleging their collusion with property developers had left many residents homeless.

Zheng's allegations were also linked to Zhou Zhengyi, a wealthy property developer who was released last month after finishing a three-year jail term for stock manipulation and fraud.

Zheng and thousands of residents accused Zhou of colluding with government officials. However Zhou was cleared in court of any property misdealings.