The families of lawyers Zhou Shifeng and Wang Quanzhang, of the Fengrui Law Firm in Beijing, received letters last Tuesday notifying them of the formal arrests of their relatives, according to their colleague Liu Xiaoyuan. He that Li Shuyun, an intern at the firm, was also arrested, as was Zhao Wei, an assistant to another human rights lawyer.

Nationwide sweep

The four arrested were part of what was, until last year, a flourishing group of legal experts who represented prominent Chinese clients, including the artist Ai Weiwei. In July, more than 200 of these lawyers were rounded up in a nationwide sweep and described by the state-run news media as swindlers. Many were detained at an undisclosed location in the port city of Tianjin.

Restrictions on civil society

The charge of subverting state power can carry a sentence of up to life in prison and is far more serious than several human rights advocates had expected in the four recent cases. The crackdown on lawyers is part of a wide-ranging restriction of civil society under President Xi Jinping, who is determined to shore up the Communist Party.

Swedish man detained

Also on Tuesday, supporters of Peter Jesper Dahlin, a Swedish national working in support of human rights groups and grass-roots legal advocates in China, said he had been detained in Beijing and is accused of endangering state security. Sources: The New York Times; Reuters