Petitioners in tents, thugs in cop cars
- Source: Global Times
- [03:13 November 13 2009]
- Comments
By Wen Tao
An official from the state Supreme People's Court said that petitioners' rights will be safeguarded as many of them are camping out in the capital in temperatures as low as -4 C and are at constant risk of being carted out against their will by thugs sent by provincial authorities. Zhao Suocheng, 57, has been camping along the sidewalk of that alley for nine years, living in a tent with all of his belongings.
The only time he has left was when the police forced him back to his hometown in Hejian, Hebei Province.
The farmer had a 16-year-old daughter who was raped and killed in 1997. The murderer was sentenced to life in prison, but Zhao is still crying for the death penalty.
Citizens from all over the country regularly wait outside the petition office of the Supreme Court in search of having their wrongs righted, able to overturn any other Chinese court's decision.
This exceptionally cold winter is bearing down hard on some of them.
"It's freezing, of course, but I am just thankful to the court for not demolishing our meager shelters yet," said Zhao, smoking in his tent full of junk, his home away from home.
"My wife died in 1986, and my only daughter is gone. I have nothing left but the hope of justice."
He was told the petitions office would be moved to Hongsicun, Chaoyang district, on November 14. But there has been no official announcement on the office's website.
At noon Thursday, 19 police vehicles with Heilongjiang plates parked along the cramped hutong, with several Jiangsu-plated police cars, and 10 others without plates were scattered in between.
Uniformed and plainclothes police huddled inside their vehicles and gathered on the road. These police are sent to the court to retrieve and take away petitioners, often claiming that they shame their provincial officials.
When a Global Times journalist was taking pictures of the petitioner's tents, a plainclothes officer rushed toward the journalist, trying to grab the camera.
An out-of-town officer punched the reporter in the chest. The officer swore to break the camera and warned:
"You know these petitioners are a violent mob, they'll beat you to death if you don't leave."
Several state bailiffs in the petition office came down to stop the incident and escorted the journalist into a safer area.
After checking his press credentials, officers of the Supreme Court suggested that the reporter delete photos containing their office sign and escorted the reporter back to his car.
"You'd better never come back here, those guys outside are really short-tempered," someone in the office advised An officer of the Supreme Court told the Global Times that no matter where the petitioners are from or what the nature of a case is, "the petition office is obliged to receive all cases brought by petitioners."
Liu Xiaoyuan, a lawyer at Yitong Law Firm, told the Global Times that journalists' right to take pictures in public is protected by law. "When law enforcement personnel are taking public action, it's legal for a journalist to take pictures of the scene."
