<
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/feb/15/uk-based-lawyers-for-hong-kong-activist-jimmy-lai-targeted-by-chinese-state>
"UK-based lawyers have spoken out about being targeted by the Chinese state and
its supporters in a campaign of intimidation including surveillance, hacking of
bank accounts and rape threats.
The barristers, from Doughty Street Chambers in London, say there has been a
coordinated and concerted campaign against them since they began acting for the
jailed Hong Kong pro-democracy activist and media mogul, Jimmy Lai, three years
ago.
Caoilfhionn Gallagher KC said she had received threats via email and social
media of dismemberment, rape and death, which have extended to her family in
recent months.
“I had a threat to rape one of my children because of my work,” she said. “I
don’t know if that’s just an individual or if that’s someone who’s
state-linked. What I do know is that if you have a campaign which is led by
state authorities to say this lawyer is not to be trusted and they’re
undermining the Chinese state by engaging in legal work with the United
Nations, it sends a green light to [its supporters] to send material like
that.”
As the leader of Lai’s international legal team, Gallagher has been targeted
the most, including “hundreds” of attempts to hack her bank account. There has
also been so-called “privilege phishing” – attempts to seek to persuade those
who are targeted to divulge sensitive information, which the Bar Council has
also warned about. Sometimes it is through emails created to appear to have
been sent by Gallagher, or her contacts or colleagues.
On one occasion an email purporting to be from her was sent to all of the other
KCs in her chambers saying she had decided to resign because her work on the
Lai case was putting all of them and their families in danger. “I woke up in a
hotel room to a whole load of messages saying: ‘Are you OK? What can I do?’”
she said.
The team have also received WhatsApp calls which show up as being from
colleagues when they are not.
In March 2023, Gallagher and Jennifer Robinson, who is also on the Lai team,
were followed around the UN office in Geneva by a man. In June 2023, a fellow
barrister, Tatyana Eatwell, had a speech at the UN human rights council
interrupted by a delegation from China when she mentioned Lai. She said at a
separate UN event “they accused us of being criminals … [it was] deeply
intimidating”. Such behaviour has been highlighted in the last two annual
reprisals reports by the UN secretary general.
Activity obviously emanating from the Chinese state has also included
denunciations in government statements and its closely controlled media. Other
targeting of the lawyers is not so easily attributable, but Gallagher said: “We
think because of the coordination of the emails and the cyber-attacks and the
fact that they coincide with key moments in the case, we’ve good reason to
believe that they’re state linked.”
They have reported online attacks to specialist Metropolitan police officers,
who she said had been helpful but were hamstrung by the sophistication of the
overseas perpetrators. Gallagher said there were once 32 simultaneous attempts
to hack her email account using virtual private networks (VPNs) to make it look
as if the perpetrators were based anywhere from Delaware, in the US, to
Kazakhstan and South Africa.
Clerks and researchers – one of whom had their iPhone cloned – have also been
targeted."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
