Lawyer's role

Zhou, 51, is originally from Anyang city, Henan province. He was director of the Fengrui Law Firm, which was suspended in 2015 after a police investigation into several of its employees.

Zhou confessed he was dissatisfied with the current judicial system and the government. He said he had long been influenced by anti-China forces and gradually established ideas to overturn the country's political system.

Since 2011, Zhou used the law firm as a front for his subversive agenda, the court said. He recruited like-minded lawyers and other staff, and together they discredited judicial organs, attacked the judicial system and promoted anti-government sentiment by interfering in and inflating the importance of sensitive cases.

According to a prosecution witness who once worked at the law firm, Zhou recruited two key administrative assistants－surnamed Wu and Liu－neither of whom were lawyers. Liu's duty was to analyze sensitive cases and identify loopholes, while Wu was responsible for promoting them.

Zhou used the pair to distort facts, cause confusion and social instability and to attack the country's judicial system, the court found.

In March 2015, while a local court in Hebei province was hearing an extortion case taken on by Zhou's firm, Zhou instructed lawyers to take pictures of prosecutors and judges and post them online and to fabricate rumors about their moral character.

Lyu Hongbing, deputy director of the All China Lawyers Association, who was present at court last week, noted that the cases serve as a lesson for all lawyers.

"Revere the law, stick to the facts and protect you clients' legitimate interests," Lyu said.

The activities of the group received foreign support over the years, investigations found.

In March and April 2014, Gou was sent by Hu to attend a program abroad that trained participants in the theories and techniques useful in subverting a government.

"Some separatists seeking Tibet and Xinjiang independence also took part in this leader camp to learn anti-China theories and skills to confront the government and law enforcement agencies," Hu confessed.

Gou said: "I found the program was actually a gathering of members from all anti-China groups. Hu himself could not leave the country, so he planned to make me his agent in civil movements abroad and a right-hand man in domestic operations. Once the movement picks up at home, I could organize people through what I learned in the program."

Sponsored by foreign organizations, Wang Yu, a lawyer working for Zhou, also went to training programs in Britain, Switzerland, Thailand, Taiwan and Hong Kong, together with her husband, Bao Longjun.

"They contacted me and offered me a free chance to learn about the judicial system and humanitarian programs in the West. During these visits, I was instilled with Western ideology and also learned how to use encryption software and software for bypassing the internet firewall," said Wang, who was investigated in a separate case.