China milk victim lawyers say pressed to quit

By Chris Buckley

BEIJING (Reuters) - Chinese lawyers seeking redress for infant victims of toxic milk say they are facing growing official pressure to abandon the efforts, blaming growing government sensitivity over the health scandal.

Scenes of thousands of parents crowding hospitals, seeking help for babies ill from toxic dairy powder, have stoked widespread public dismay in China.

Reflecting that anger, local rights advocates and lawyers have mobilized to support families seeking redress, possibly by suing dairies or officials who failed to disclose the problem.

But on Sunday, organizers of the campaign and some of the lawyers said officials in some provinces have pressured volunteers or their bosses to give up the campaign.

"About two dozen of the lawyers have called these past days to say they want to quit the volunteer advice group," said Li Fangping, a Beijing lawyer who helped organize the group soon after public news of the poisonings emerged.

"Some of them said that they or their offices were told they'd face serious repercussions if they stayed involved."

The pressure has by no means deterred all the lawyers to drop out, and nor does that pressure appear to have been uniformly intense, Li and other participants said. Even after the departures, the group has about 120 lawyers ready to give free advice.

But the rash of warnings suggests the government does not want lingering political and legal fallout from the milk scandal.