Chinese state media has published excerpts of what it says is a confession by Zhou Shifeng, one of the lawyers detained last week in a nationwide sweep that brought international condemnation. The report said that Mr Zhou had admitted to charges, including inciting disorder.
Mr Zhou and his colleagues at the Fengrui firm were the main targets of a co-ordinated action by security authorities across several provinces in which almost 200 Chinese lawyers specialising in civil rights were detained or questioned. As of Thursday, 31 lawyers were still in detention, according to Amnesty International.
“It is beyond doubt that the law firm has had some breaches. Some specific behaviour has been illegal and even criminal, the errors are serious,” the People’s Daily quoted Mr Zhou as saying. Mr Zhou has been unreachable since he was taken away from a hotel room early in the morning last week.