[JURIST] Civil rights lawyer Ni Yulan told Western media [Reuters report] Monday that the Chinese government has put her under house arrest, presumably for her work as an advocate for citizens being evicted to make way for development. Foreign diplomats from the EU, Germany, Canada, France and Switzerland sought to meet with Ni at her home over the weekend but were turned away by Chinese police officers. Ni, who won the US State Department’s International Women of Courage Award [official website] earlier this year, but was not allowed to leave China to accept it, expects to be evicted from her home but has been prevented from seeking a new dwelling. When asked about Ni’s situation, US Secretary of State John Kerry [official profile] she has paid a “steep price” as an advocate. Ni has been relegated to a wheelchair since 2002, when police beat her for videoing the forced demolition of a client’s home. Ni also had adverse run-ins with the police in 2008 and 2012, and was jailed [reports] for “making trouble.”

In an apparent attempt to quiet dissidents, the Chinese government has been cracking down on rights lawyers since President Xi Jinping took office in 2013. Earlier this month, Ge Yongxi, a civil rights defense lawyer, was detained and released [JURIST report] by Chinese authorities for posts on social media that “poked fun” at Xi Jinping for the Panama Papers. Shortly before, Chinese human rights lawyer Pu Zhiqiangon announced [JURIST report] that his license to practice law was revoked by the judicial bureau because of a December criminal conviction for with using social media to critique the government. In March, Chinese lawyer Chen Taihe fled his country [JURIST report] for California, after he was detained in July for “picking quarrels and stirring up trouble.” During that particular assault on lawyers, at least 242 people detained or questioned throughout China.