CHINA—On May 12, Zhao Guoli from Shenzhen City called the China Tianwang Centre for Human Rights Affairs and stated, “On March 22, 2006, I went to the Russian Consulate in Beijing wanting to see Russian President Putin’s departure. The Commission of Beijing People’s Forced Labor Management sentenced me to a year in a forced labor camp. Currently I have appealed to the Beijing First Middle People’s Court. My case will be tried on May 15, I hope you pay attention to this case.”
Zhao is a former employee of the China Shenzhen Foreign Group. She went to Beijing to appeal to the National Appeals Office[1] because she was laid off for unacceptable reasons.
Let’s Go See Putin’s Departure
According to Zhao, at 6 p.m. on March 22, 2006, she and other appealers went to the back gate of the Russian Consulate in Beijing to watch Russian President Putin’s departure. She had a short conversation with one of the guards at the entrance.
Police arrived shortly after and arrested the appealers including Zhao for trespassing. The police took their deposition and filed charges against them. On March 23, 2006, Zhao provided police with a document to prove her poor medical condition so she would receive a light punishment. Instead, the police brutally beat Zhao and detained her because the document had no signature.
One Year In a Forced Labor Camp
On June 6, 2006, Zhao received a notice that she was sentenced to a forced labor camp with a term from May 23, 2006 (date she was detained) to March 21, 2007. After Zhao asked for an administrative review, the detention center told her she had to go to the Beijing Forced Labor Staff Deployment Department. Zhao was taken to the Huhhot Women’s Forced Labor Camp in Inner Mongolia the same day. At the end of June, Zhao’s mother represented her to apply for an administrative review at the Beijing People’s Government. On September 27, 2006, the Beijing Xuanwu District People’s Court accepted the administrative review, but Zhao lost the case. After Zhao served her term in the forced labor camp, she continued to appeal her sentence.
On May 9, 2007, Zhao received a court summons from the Beijing First Middle People’s Court that her lawsuit against the Commission of Beijing People’s Forced Labor Management would be tried at 3 p.m. on May 15, 2007. The China Tianwang Centre for Human Right Affairs will continue to follow the case.
Notes:
[1] As stipulated in the constitution of the People’s Republic of China, when people think that they are not treated fairly in the local courts, they may appeal at the National Appeals Office in Beijing.
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