Armed riot police in southern China have paraded four alleged offenders of COVID-19 rules through the streets, state media reported on Wednesday, leading to criticism of the government’s heavy-handed approach.
China banned such public shaming of criminal suspects in 2010 after decades of campaigning by human rights advocates, but the practice has resurfaced as local governments struggle to enforce a national “zero-COVID” policy.
Four masked suspects in hazmat suits — carrying placards displaying their photographs and names — were on Tuesday paraded in front of a large crowd in Guangxi region’s Jingxi city, state-run Guangxi News said.
Photographs of the incident showed each suspect held by two police officers — wearing face shields, masks and hazmat suits — and surrounded by a circle of police in riot gear, some holding guns.
The four were accused of transporting illegal migrants while China’s borders remain largely closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the newspaper said.
Jingxi is near the Chinese border with Vietnam.
The public shaming was part of measures announced by the local government in August to punish those breaking health rules.
Guangxi News said the parade provided a “real-life warning” to the public, and “deterred border-related crimes.”
However, it also led to a backlash, with official outlets and social media users criticizing the heavy-handed approach.
Although Jingxi is “under tremendous pressure” to prevent imported COVID-19 cases, the “measure seriously violates the spirit of the rule of law and cannot be allowed to happen again,” Beijing News said on Wednesday.
Other suspects accused of illicit smuggling and human trafficking have also been paraded in the past few months, reports on the Jingxi City Government’s Web site said.
Videos of a similar parade last month showed a crowd of people watching two prisoners being held, while a local official read out their crimes on a microphone.
They were then seen marching through the streets in their hazmat suits, flanked by police in riot gear.
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