'Law Is Dead' - Blind China activist beaten up again

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Blind China activist beaten up again - group
Tue Oct 25, 2005 9:25 AM BST
By Benjamin Kang Lim

BEIJING (Reuters) - A blind activist under house arrest for exposing forced
abortions in China's east has been beaten for the second time this month, a
village official and the Washington-based Radio Free Asia said on Tuesday.

It was also the second attack on a civil rights campaigner in as many weeks.

About nine people, including two officials, punched and kicked Chen
Guangcheng on Monday when he tried to force his way out of his home in
Dongshigu village, Shandong province, to greet two friends barred from
entering his home, RFA quoted a villager surnamed Han and Chen's cousin as
saying.

"(They) started beating and kicking him. He fell to the ground five or six
times. He is a blind man. He could not see them," the cousin, Chen Guangli,
was quoted as saying.

But a village official told Reuters that Chen Guangcheng had berated his
assailants before the scuffle broke out and bit one of them for refusing to
let him go out.

Chen and his family could not be reached for comment. His mobile phone was
turned off and his home phone was cut.

On October 8, Lu Banglie was beaten by thugs when he tried to help a British
reporter from the Guardian enter Taishi village in the southern province of
Guangdong to interview villagers seeking to vote out their elected chief
over allegations of corruption.

Four days earlier, Chen, whose whistleblowing prompted the government to
sack and and detain several officials in Shandong's Linyi city, was beaten
and found bleeding on a street in his home village when three lawyers
arrived to negotiate with local officials to free him from house arrest.

Officials from Yinan county, which administers Dongshigu, forcibly brought
back Chen to his home from a hiding place in Beijing in September.

RFA said Tuesday's attack left Chen bleeding in the right temple area. His
left eye and left temple area also hurt and he could not bend his fingers,
it said, adding that officials refused to let Chen seek medical treatment.

But the official said by telephone: "His life is not in danger. His injury
is not a big deal."

RFA said 20 people were guarding Chen's house in three shifts, each shift
led by two cadres.

Chen's freedom was restricted after officials accused him of providing
"intelligence" to foreigners about forced abortions and sterilisations as
part of strict family planning rules, the official said by telephone.

Asked if putting Chen under house arrest broke the law, the official said:
"It's orders from above. It's not us."

"No one in the village is bad mouthing Chen Guangcheng. We all support him,"
the official said.

"But whoever helps him will be detained. Whoever goes to his home and talks
to him will be detained," the official said when asked why the village
mayor, a distant cousin of Chen, did not help the activist.

The whereabouts of Chen's guests are unknown. "I don't know where they are
now and I am concerned," his cousin told RFA.

(Additional reporting by Vivi Lin)

Rising tide of protests challenges Beijing's desire for social stability
BY EVAN OSNOS / Chicago Tribune

BEIJING - The last thing Lu Banglie remembers, he was grabbed by the hair
and pulled from the car. He blacked out under a rain of kicks and punches.

Chinese officials beat blind activist Science Daily (press release) - 11
hours ago JINAN, China, Oct. 25 (UPI) -- A blind activist who has exposed
official abuses and forced abortions in China's eastern Shandong ...

Blind China activist beaten up again - group Reuters.uk, UK - 12 hours ago
By Benjamin Kang Lim. BEIJING (Reuters) - A blind activist under house
arrest for exposing forced abortions in China's east has been ...

Forced abortions in China Calcutta Telegraph, India - Oct 24, 2005 Beijing,
Oct. 23: A spate of government-sanctioned but illegal abortions of women
carrying their second child has been taking place ...

�Law Is Dead� In These Times, IL - 9 hours ago It was difficult for Chen
Guangcheng to come to Beijing The blind social activist from Linyi, in
China�s eastern Shandong province, needed a friend to hold ...

Blind Chinese Activist Beaten, Refused Medical Treatment Radio Free Asia,
D.C. - 22 hours ago HONG KONG�A blind social activist who blew the whistle
on official abuses under China's one-child policy in the eastern province of
Shandong was beaten by a ...

Blind Chinese activist 'beaten up again' Sydney Morning Herald
(subscription), Australia - 12 hours ago A blind activist under house arrest
for exposing forced abortions in China has reportedly been beaten for the
second time this month. ...

Chinese officials beat blind activist Webindia123, India - 10 hours ago A
blind activist who has exposed official abuses and forced abortions in
China's eastern Shandong province was beaten Monday when he tried to leave
his home. ...

Chinese officials beat blind activist Monsters and Critics.com, UK - 12
hours ago JINAN, China (UPI) -- A blind activist who has exposed official
abuses and forced abortions in China`s eastern Shandong province was beaten
Monday when he ...

Blind Chinese Activist Beaten, Refused Medical Aid NewsBlaze, CA - 19 hours
ago By Radio Free Asia. HONG KONG - A blind social activist who blew the
whistle on official abuses under China's one-child policy in ...

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