CHINA: Human rights groups have expressed concern over an apparent assassination attempt on a prominent Chinese lawyer who has represented members of the Falun Gong and members of the underground Christian church.
Gao Zhisheng said someone tried to kill him by knocking him down with a car and that Chinese security forces might be to blame.
Mr Gao, who recently resigned from the Communist Party, is one of a growing number of politically active lawyers challenging party control of the judicial process.
Mr Gao said he was driving home from a teahouse in Beijing when one of two cars tailing him suddenly drove in front of him and braked suddenly. Its licence plate was covered, as was the plate of the military vehicle behind him, he said.
"I walked to the front of the car to check its licence number. Unexpectedly, the driver suddenly started to drive the car directly toward me. In a quick reflex, I jumped to avoid being hit. I lost my balance. My right hand hit the front of the car," Mr Gao said in a statement.
"I've been threatened before," Gao Zhisheng said. "But this time they wanted to kill me."
Amnesty International called on Chinese authorities to guarantee the safety of Mr Gao and his family. "The organisation is also urging the authorities to allow Gao Zhisheng to continue his peaceful human rights activities free from fear of harassment and to restore his licence to practice law," the group said.
In October, Mr Gao wrote an open letter to President Hu Jintao and premier Wen Jiabao calling for a government investigation into allegations of systematic torture and persecution of Falun Gong practitioners.
Mr Gao (42) is a director of the Beijing-based Shengzhi Law Office - one of a small number of law firms in China which have taken on high-profile human rights cases.
In November last year, the operations of Shengzhi Law Office were suspended by justice authorities for one year and one month later Mr Gao's licence to practice law was revoked.
He says he and his family have been under constant police surveillance for more than 80 days, including during his meeting with the UN Special Rapporteur against Torture, Manfred Nowak, in Beijing during Mr Nowak's November visit to China.
An active member of the Christian community in Beijing, Mr Gao has represented many human rights defenders and people suffering political persecution due to their political expression or religious belief.
Mr Gao defended Cai Zhuohua, a pastor who was imprisoned for three years for "illegal business practices", including printing and selling copies of the Bible.
Earlier this month he was briefly detained by the Beijing police, reportedly after he noticed police officers filming him. This prompted him to start filming the police himself, which led to him being detained. Mr Gao said police officers warned him: "You know if we wanted to kill you, it would be as easy as killing an ant!"