Gang rape suspect gets new lawyers

The two new lawyers for a suspect involved in a gang rape case that has attracted nationwide attention said they would plea for innocence for their client, Beijing News reported on Thursday.

Xue Zhenyuan, the former lawyer for the suspect, surnamed Li, quit last month but declined to give a specific reason.

Xu quit because the suspect's mother asked him to release a statement saying Li was not involved in the rape, according to a source close to the case.

Li, 17, the son of Li Shuangjiang, a famous singer in the People's Liberation Army, was accused of gang raping a girl with four other males at a hotel in Beijing in February and was detained days later.

The police refused to disclose details of the case, including the names of the suspects, saying four of them were minors.

Li aroused public anger in another case in 2011 when he and his friends drove a BMW without a driving license and assaulted a couple in Beijing over a quarrel.