An eye witness told The Epoch Times, “Zhao’s actions drew the attention of many passersby. Not long after, three police cars, several police motorcycles, and a dozen police officers came to stop her. The crowds defended Zhao and blamed the corruption for her case of injustice.”
Seeing pregnant Zhao work laboriously, a migrant worker who cleaned streets for a living, helped Zhao to hold up her banner. His act brought him a beating from the police.
Later, the two were taken to the local police station and interrogated. The young man was released that same day at 11 p.m. The police threaten to detain Zhao for five days for disturbing public order, however, her detention was waived because of her pregnancy. She was released at 2 a.m. on May 1.
[Please watch the video of the event: “Pregnant petitioner Zhao Chunhong paints slogans on Qianmen Boulevard in Beijing ” ]
A witness said, “Zhao wrote very quickly on the walls, ‘Corruption in Hebei is disastrous,’ ‘Rascals in Zhuhai robbed property of disabled soldiers,’ ‘Kill corrupt officials, the source of corruption!’ She soon threw out a thousand fliers. Her paper hat had ‘Give me my human rights’ written on it.”
Chen Fengqiang, a petitioner from Guangdong, told The Epoch Times, “Zhao painted over 60 characters in several minutes. Many residents and tourists felt sorry for her suffering—that she had to come while she was pregnant so her voice could be heard.”
Chen told Zhao that he came to Beijing to appeal because tens of millions of yuan worth of property was forcibly taken by the regime. Zhao later painted a slogan to voice Chen’s grievance. Chen said, standing by her and seeing it happening, his tears began to fall, “Zhao spelled out my grief on the wall, and many pedestrians stopped to read the slogans.”
Zhao is from Hebei Province. She began a business when she was 24, and spent nearly one million yuan (US$146,362) to partner with a local to develop the Qinglong Xigou Copper Mine in Qinglong County. Later the copper mine, worth tens of millions of yuan, was taken from her by the local regime. She had come to Beijing many times to protest against corruption with fliers and banners.
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