Blind activist sues officials over beatings for sterilization protest

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Blind activist sues officials over beatings for sterilization protest
Thursday, November 10, 2005

A blind social activist who was put under house arrest and repeatedly beaten
after exposing the forced sterilization of women in east China has filed a
lawsuit against two local officials, his lawyer said Wednesday.

Chen Guangcheng, 34, also a self- educated "barefoot" lawyer, was abducted
from Beijing and put under house arrest at his home in Dongshigu village in
east China's Shandong province two months ago for speaking out against
violations of family planning rules by his local Yinan county.

Officials have since blocked all his channels of contact with the outside
world, cutting his phone line, taking away his computer and confiscating
letters, his lawyer Teng Biao said.

Chen was beaten by several thugs who were allegedly hired by the county
government when he tried to leave his home in early October and was beaten
twice subsequently.

Teng last week filed a lawsuit on behalf of Chen at the Yinan County
People's Court against the deputy head and another township official for
inflicting grievous bodily harm and ordering other people to do the same.

Separately, a man who was tortured into a false confession, jailed for
nearly two years and wrongly sentenced to death is suing two local law
courts for compensation, state media reported Wednesday.

Zhou Rukou, 51, is bringing his case against east China's Yancheng Municipal
Procuratorate and the Yancheng Municipal Intermediate People's Court for
jailing him for 576 days and sentencing him to death, China Daily reported.

Zhou was arrested and detained on April 10, 2002, after being accused of
robbing and murdering an 84-year-old man, it said. The Jiangsu Provincial
High People's Court overturned the verdict in July 2003 on the grounds of
inadequate evidence.

Zhou was released on bail in November 2003, and was exonerated in April when
Yancheng Municipal Procuratorate dropped the case.

Zhou is demanding 1.26 million yuan (HK$1.21 million) in compensation for
the mental distress, loss of freedom and financial losses that he and his
family suffered, the report said. AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE

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