CCBE 2023 HUMAN RIGHTS AWARD: Tribute to Chow Hang-Tung, Xu Zhiyong and Ding Jiaxi for their outstanding commitment to the defence of human rights in China

The Observatory is delighted that the Council of European Bars and Law Societies (CCBE) has decided to award its 2023 Human Rights Prize to the Chinese lawyers Chow Hang-Tung, Xu Zhiyong and Ding Jiaxi for their courage, determination and exceptional commitment to defending human rights and the rule of law in China.

This is a well-deserved recognition for the three of the lawyers persecuted and sentenced for defending the fundamental values of their profession and promoting respect for the rule of law in China. More specifically, on 10 April 2023, Xu Zhiyong and Ding Jiaxi were respectively sentenced to 14 years’ and 12 years’ imprisonment, following a trial behind closed doors in which the court found them guilty of “subversion of State power”.

Chow Hang-Tung, a leading figure in Hong Kong’s democracy movement, has been held in prison since September 2021, when she was arrested and charged under the National Security Act. Although no trial date has yet been set, the lawyer has in the meantime been convicted in several trials for entirely peaceful acts linked to the work of the Alliance[1] or to the commemoration of the Tiananmen massacre of 4 June.

As recognition of her exceptional courage in the face of persecution and her resistance from prison, The OIAD had agreed to nominate Chow Hang-Tung jointly by the Spanish, French and Italian delegations for the CCBE Human Rights Award 2023.

See the full application here: https://protect-lawyers.org/wp-content/uploads/CCBE-AWARD-2023-Eng.pdf

[1] The Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements of China (active since 2015 until its dissolution in 2021).