On June 30, government officials from Zigong city, Sichuan province sent approximately 200 fully armed riot policemen to suppress farmers from Baiguo village who were protecting their land. Many villagers were injured and the farmers who lost their land were arrested.
Farmers Chen Shouxian, Hu Shuming (disabled) and Zeng Pan (pregnant) have since been released and six are still detained in Daan Detention Centre. A representative for the detained farmers warned the villagers: “Don’t bail us out. We have not committed any crimes. It is the government who has arrested us and detained us who has committed a crime.”
Sources said that under the pretext of building the Zigong Hi-tech Industrial Development Zone, the Zigong city government forcefully took over land owned by farmers from Red Flag village and is suspected of embezzling profits as high as USD 6.25 billion. Consequently, 30,000 farmers have lost their homes, land and livelihood and have not yet received any compensation from the government.
Farmers from Baiguo village who lost their land repeatedly asked the government to compensate them for their loss, but the local authorities ignored their requests. On June 23, these farmers divided themselves into four groups and took turns to guard their seized land 24 hours a day. They also asked to speak to government officials, but the local authorities still ignored their requests.
On June 28, the local authorities sent approximately 100 policemen and local officers to the area, formed a security line and forcefully drove away the farmers who were guarding their land. Village representative Huang Shuming was brutally beaten by the police for taking photos of the suppression. He was injured all over his body and his camera was broken. Huang is currently being treated at the Fourth People’s hospital in Zigong city. Because he had no money to pay for treatment, the hospital stopped giving him medication and asked to leave the hospital. Local authorities also refused to pay his medical bills.
