Front Line is concerned following reports of the detention of human rights defender, Mr Zheng Enchong, for ten hours on 15 April 2009. Zheng Enchong is a Shanghai-based human rights lawyer who has provided legal assistance to many residents who were victimised by Shanghai’s eviction policies.

Further Information

On 15 April 2009, at 8:30 am, more than ten officials from the Zhabei Branch of the Shanghai Public Security Bureau entered Zheng Enchong's home. They proceeded to ransack the house, emptying contents from drawers, throwing books from bookshelves, and throwing items such as bedding and teacups onto the floor. The police officials reportedly poured glue into the key hole of the front door so that a key could not be entered and the door could not be locked. The search lasted for approximately two and a half hours.

At 9:00 am Zheng Enchong was taken to the Zhabei branch police station where he was not officially registered until 3:00 pm and then sent home again at 7:30 pm. This was the fifth time this week that Zheng Enchong has been summoned by the police.

On 10 April 2009, Zheng Enchong did an interview with The Voice of America in which he discussed an anti-corruption action by the Shanghai Government authorities requiring high-level officials to account for their housing purchases. In the interview Zheng Enchong stated that Shanghai departmental-level officials were buying housing at sub-market prices and that ordinary home buyers were bearing the costs in the difference. He claimed that if there were genuine attempts to investigate the allegations then 50% of those officials would be sent to jail and dismissed from their positions. Zheng Enchong believes that the harassment by the authorities is in retaliation for this interview.

Zheng Enchong has been the subject of harassment by the authorities over several years. In 2003 he was sentenced to three years in prison. Since his release in 2006, Zheng Enchong has been under continued surveillance and has been harassed repeatedly by the authorities.

Front Line believes that the detention and harassment of Zheng Enchong is directly related to his work in the defence of human rights. Front Line is seriously concerned for the physical and psychological integrity of Zheng Enchong.