ICC Note: Since the release of this report on lawyer Zhang Kai, he has been sentenced to at least six months in a ‘black jail,’ sequestered in an undisclosed location and denied access to legal representation because his alleged crimes relate to national security, according to the Wenzhou Municipal Public Security Bureau.

From a Report called China Change (Initium Media)

08/31/2015 China (China Aid)

Zhang Kai (张凯), a prominent Chinese rights lawyer who has been living for a year among Christians in Wenzhou, Zhejiang Province, and assisting in their litigation against the government’s encroachments,disappeared with his assistant on Aug. 25. They are understood to have been taken into custody by the authorities in relation to Zhang’s legal work. On Aug. 27, Chinese lawyer Yang Xinquan (杨兴权), director of Beijing Xinqiao Law Firm and Zhang Kai’s employer, posted the following report of Zhang’s legal activities in Wenzhou. He also announced that he was establishing a legal group for Zhang’s defense, much like the many which Zhang established to defend Christians when he was free. — The Editors

On Aug. 8, Zhang shared his thinking with his friends on WeChat: “I’ve made up my mind: the most they can do is jail me. But if I stay silent, I’ll regret it my whole life.”

Two weeks later he and his assistant Liu Peng (刘鹏) were taken away by Wenzhou police.

Zhang Kai, 37, is a lawyer with the Xinqiao Law Firm (新桥律师事务所) in Beijing, and a Christian. Amidst the campaign to demolish crosses in Zhejiang, of all human rights lawyers in China, Zhang has been the most active and become the most deeply involved. Beginning with his representation of Wenzhou Salvation Church (救恩堂) pastor Huang Yizi (黄益梓) in August last year, he’s lived in Wenzhou and been counsel in many cases involving cross demolition. He said “I’m perfectly clear” about the fact that he’s treading in extremely dangerous political territory. In July, a reporter with the Hong Kong-based Initium Media (端传媒) bumped in Zhang on the destroyed steps of the Xialing Church [1] (下岭教堂). He was smiling and said that he wasn’t concerned about his personal safety: “How many large scale removals of crosses have you come across in history?” he remarked.
…