Chinese Legislator Dies in Police Custody

By Greg Donaldson
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

BEIJING, China – The death of a Chinese legislator, during his detention in police custody, has triggered mass protests throughout the Chinese province of Hubei. Ran Jianxin, a member of the local People’s Congress had been investigating accusations of corruptions in a city-backed land deal, but was arrested May 26th on bribery charges and died while in police custody on June 4th.  Mr. Ran’s family alleges that the bribery charges were fabricated in order to halt Jianxin’s corruption investigation.

Protests in Hubei (Photo Courtesy of BBC)
Protests in Hubei (Photo Courtesy of BBC)

Xinhua, China’s official news agency, quoted his cousin as saying that Mr. Ran’s body bore signs of an “unnatural death.” Ran’s body had multiple cuts and bruises. The New York Times released several photos online that allegedly show Mr. Ran’s corpse.

On Saturday 2,000 protestors stormed government headquarters in Lichuan to express their rage over the death of the legislator. Local authorities sent armed riot-police to disperse the crowd, but the protesters resisted. After fighting through the police, the crowd tore down the electric iron gate of the government compound according to the Epoch Times. Hundreds were injured as reports alleged that the  police beat the crowd with electric batons and protestors fought back with bottles and eggs. Eventually, officials sent armored vehicles which ended the riot.

Ms. Yuan of Lichuan City told Radio Free Asia (RFA) “the crowd demanded justice and demanded the murderers be captured.” Ms. He who works for a drug store told RFA that many protesters who were wounded and covered with blood came to her store to seek medical help.

Ms. Zhang told RFA that Ran worked hard for the well-being of civilians, and that people wished to seek justice for him. “A good official did many good things for his people, but was killed by officials from another area,” she said.

According to Hong Kong-based Apple Daily, several thousand Lichuan City residents gathered in front of the government offices on June 9, holding banners that read “Secretly Killed for Offending the Leaders.”

Li Jingsong, a lawyer, from Beijing, told RFA that detention centers in China are overseen by the Public Security Bureau, and hence there is a lack of effective monitoring and supervision. According to Li, Ran’s death again demonstrated that the legal rights of detainees in China’s detention centers are not protected.

“The main problem is that they have no regulations on management,” he said. “The detention centers and the public security system are too closely tied together.”

Two city officials have been detained in connection with Mr. Ran’s death, the Communist Party newspaper Global Times reported. Two others, a local prosecutor and a deputy director of the city’s Communist Party, have lost their jobs, according to Agence France-Presse.

For more information, please see:

Tibetan Review – Thousands clash with police in China over sympathetic bureaucrat’s custodial death – 13 June, 2011

BBC News – China unrest: 25 arrested after clashes with police – 12 June, 2011

The Epoch Times – Thousands Protest in China’s Hubei Province, After Official’s Suspicious Death – 12 June, 2011

New York Times – Chinese Street Vendor Dispute Expands into Violent Melee – 12 June, 2011

Author: Impunity Watch Archive