2015年CRI 山东警方侦破收钱组织策划访民举牌滋事案

In a statement released late Sunday, the Ministry 1 of Public Security accused the so-called protestors of demonstrating in the name of protecting the rights of petitioners 2 and assisting lawyers advocating their rights.

Among the detained is Zhai Yanmin who paid people to stage protests, and Liu Jianjun, a lawyer acting 3 as a link between Zhai and parties that hoped to influence judges.

Authorities say the group operated under a top-down management structure.

"The group was close-knit. Every time, the organizers would make a plan and prepare banners in advance, with each member having a specific assignment such as holding a banner, shouting slogans or taking photos. The photos would be uploaded online in a bid to hype up the incident."

Investigations 5 show that Zhai staged nine so-called "mass incidents" last year and organized five protests after a high-profile fatal shooting at a railway station in northeast China's Heilongjiang Province in May.

Their latest gathering 6 took place on June 15 outside the Intermediate People's Court of Weifang, a city in Shandong.

The protestors held banners and shouted "people have the rights to supervise justice" and "Xu is not guilty," resulting in a huge number of onlookers 7 and causing severe severe traffic jams.

At the same time, pictures and stories were posted on foreign websites, claiming that petitioners gathering before the court accused the judicial 8 organ of wrongful convictions.

Police inquiries 9 reveal the protestors "employed" by Zhai came from eight provinces. They had nothing to do with Xu.

Zhai was arrested on the same day in Beijing. He confessed he saw the illegal activities as a kind of business.

"I had run several businesses, but they all failed. Then I met some petitioners and won their praises by helping 10 them. I felt proud once again, and came up with the idea of doing favor for petitioners to make money and build reputation."

Zhai received the case of Xu from Liu, who is with the Beijing-based Kangpu Law Firm.

A deal was reached between Zhai and Xu's family who wanted Xu's sentence to be revoked 11 during the second trial at the Weifang court.

The deal also included a "seminar" on Xu's case with the participation 12 of professors, experts and reporters to create hype.

As a return, Liu received 14,000 yuan, or about 2,200 US dollars, as kickback 13 from the 70,000 yuan paid by Xu's family for the seminar. Zhai initially 14 got 10,000 yuan to pay for the protestors.

Zhai admitted that he could receive extra money if the protest was effective, and the sum would rise if any of the protestors were detained.

The case is under further investigation 4.

Both Zhai and Liu are now facing the charge of staging illegal gatherings 15 to disrupt social order.

Police say the protests were mainly funded via the Internet and partially 16 supported by some lawyer groups.

The Chinese offices of international organizations, embassies, government departments and courts were among their frequented locations.

TV commentator 17 Wang Jian suggests multiple efforts are needed to deal with paid protests.

"A country with an adequate legal system should not tolerate such protests. Efforts should be made to push ahead with the rule of law and ensure the handling of every case is fair and square so as to make the public more confident of laws and eliminate the breeding ground for such 'professional protesters'."

Wang also calls on the public to avoid giving credence 18 to unverified information.