Police have detained Pu Zhiqiang, one of the most prominent human rights lawyers in China, as the ruling Communist party seeks to continue punishing government critics.

Pu has represented dissident artist Ai Weiwei and was reportedly arrested because he was suspected of stirring trouble and "illegally obtaining personal information," the Beijing Public Security Bureau said. The police added that they would further investigate the "other crimes" that the lawyer allegedly committed, The Guardian detailed.

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According to Pu's lawyer Si Weijiang, his client is innocent and has only been arrested for political reasons. In a phone interview with Agence Frace-Presse on Friday, Si said authorities had most likely been angered when Pu criticized the government online.

Pu was one of those who were detained in May for attending a meeting commemorating the Tiananmen Square protest's 25^th anniversary. Over 40 journalists, scholars, activists, and lawyers were detained ahead of the June 4 event, according to Amnesty International.

Days after the anniversary, other lawyers and activists were released. Pu, on the other hand, remained in detention, prompting mounting concerns about his condition.

The Chinese government controls the courts in the country and arrests usually lead to conviction.

On Wednesday, longtime rights lawyer Zhang Sizhi posted online that he had met with Pu this week and learned that the latter had been interrogated daily for 10 hours at a time.

Along with Pu, several of his associates including journalist Wu Wei and newspaper staff Nikkei had also been detained before the Tiananmen anniversary. Campaign groups say Wu and Xin have already been released last week.

When news of Pu's arrest spread widely on Friday, Ai had posted about the issue on his account on the photo-sharing site Instagram. He also published online a photo of the human rights lawyer as well as a story about the arrest. 

TagsPu Zhiqiang, arrest, Human Rights, Lawyer, Tiananmen Square, Crackdown