On January 7, a man was beaten to death by a group of city administrators* for filming their violent enforcement of an expired contract in Wanba Village in central China’s Tianmen City, Hubei Province.
According to the Chutian Metropolitan, Mr Wei Wenhua, a construction company president, was driving through Wanba Village. His attention was caught by a violent confrontation between local villagers and a group of city administrators. He stopped his car and started to film the scene on his mobile phone. He was seen by the administrators and they then severely beat him up.
The Chutain Metropolitan reported that a villager on the scene told them that although Mr. Wei handed over his phone, the beating did not stop.
Five minutes later, Wei passed out on the ground. One of the administrators took him to a hospital, but Wei was declared dead on arrival.
The violent confrontation occurred at a landfill that is situated next to the villagers’ homes. According to a villager named Li, two years ago, a government department negotiated with the village to use the parcel of land as a landfill.
Because the landfill releases large amounts of odors that pollute the local drinking water, the villagers refused to renew the contract when it expired in January. However, the garbage trucks continued to dump trash daily.
By late afternoon on January 7, several dozen uniformed city administrators arrived on the scene to prevent interference by the villagers. When the local villagers banned together to try and stop the trucks from entering, a conflict broke out between the two sides. At least five villagers were injured and hospitalized.
When inquiries where made to the local police, they said they had already logged the case but refuse to disclose any further details.
*City administrators and officials are generally appointed positions that are often filled with people that have connections with the mob.
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