A rights lawyer helping villagers in southern China resolve a tense land dispute with the local government has been formally arrested, his attorney said yesterday.
Gao Zhisheng told reporters the law firm received notice this week from police that Guo Feixiong had been arrested on charges of "gathering crowds to disturb social order."
"All we know is that he's been formally arrested. ... We don't know when the trial will take place," said Gao, head of the Beijing-based Zhisheng Legal Office and Guo's employer.
PHOTO: AP
Guo "disappeared" last month after he educated farmers at Taishi village in Guangdong Province in their ongoing battle to legally remove village head Chen Jinsheng, whom locals accuse of corrupt land practices.
Chen had allegedly sold villagers' land without their consent and pocketed some of the money.
Villagers told reporters yesterday numerous plainclothes police and uniformed guards have been posted in the village to monitor the activities of the villagers around the clock.
"They are guarding entrances to our village. They've also gone from door to door warning us not to cause trouble," said one woman who declined to be identified for fear of retribution. "People are afraid to speak to reporters."
Several previously outspoken villagers' mobile numbers have been switched off. Foreign reporters who tried to go to the village have been harassed.
Academics and lawyers around China view the case as a test of the central government's determination to fully implement laws on village democracy, something they had been promoting.
The case could have significant ramifications, especially given it involves China's richest province, as it could affect the widespread land redevelopment -- which often come with unfair seizure of land from the farmers -- going on in major cities.
Authorities may view any victory by the farmers to regain possession of the land Chen sold as having a negative impact, such as scaring away buyers and developers.
For weeks, civil affairs officials from the provincial capital Guangzhou's Panyu district refused to accept a petition to remove Chen and repeatedly sent police to detain villagers and break up peaceful protests.
REVENGE: Trump said he had the support of the Syrian government for the strikes, which took place in response to an Islamic State attack on US soldiers last week The US launched large-scale airstrikes on more than 70 targets across Syria, the Pentagon said on Friday, fulfilling US President Donald Trump’s vow to strike back after the killing of two US soldiers. “This is not the beginning of a war — it is a declaration of vengeance,” US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth wrote on social media. “Today, we hunted and we killed our enemies. Lots of them. And we will continue.” The US Central Command said that fighter jets, attack helicopters and artillery targeted ISIS infrastructure and weapon sites. “All terrorists who are evil enough to attack Americans are hereby warned
‘POLITICAL LOYALTY’: The move breaks with decades of precedent among US administrations, which have tended to leave career ambassadors in their posts US President Donald Trump’s administration has ordered dozens of US ambassadors to step down, people familiar with the matter said, a precedent-breaking recall that would leave embassies abroad without US Senate-confirmed leadership. The envoys, career diplomats who were almost all named to their jobs under former US president Joe Biden, were told over the phone in the past few days they needed to depart in the next few weeks, the people said. They would not be fired, but finding new roles would be a challenge given that many are far along in their careers and opportunities for senior diplomats can
Seven wild Asiatic elephants were killed and a calf was injured when a high-speed passenger train collided with a herd crossing the tracks in India’s northeastern state of Assam early yesterday, local authorities said. The train driver spotted the herd of about 100 elephants and used the emergency brakes, but the train still hit some of the animals, Indian Railways spokesman Kapinjal Kishore Sharma told reporters. Five train coaches and the engine derailed following the impact, but there were no human casualties, Sharma said. Veterinarians carried out autopsies on the dead elephants, which were to be buried later in the day. The accident site
RUSHED: The US pushed for the October deal to be ready for a ceremony with Trump, but sometimes it takes time to create an agreement that can hold, a Thai official said Defense officials from Thailand and Cambodia are to meet tomorrow to discuss the possibility of resuming a ceasefire between the two countries, Thailand’s top diplomat said yesterday, as border fighting entered a third week. A ceasefire agreement in October was rushed to ensure it could be witnessed by US President Donald Trump and lacked sufficient details to ensure the deal to end the armed conflict would hold, Thai Minister of Foreign Affairs Sihasak Phuangketkeow said after an ASEAN foreign ministers’ meeting in Kuala Lumpur. The two countries agreed to hold talks using their General Border Committee, an established bilateral mechanism, with Thailand
RSS