China Moves Ahead With Trials of Rebel Villagers in Secret

[TomSea]

China Moves Ahead With Trials of Rebel Villagers in Secret

Authorities in the southern Chinese province of Guangdong are moving ahead with the trials of more than 40 people detained during a crackdown in September on the rebel village of Wukan, ending months of daily mass protests over the loss of farmland and the detention of a protest leader.

More than 70 people were detained in the village after riot police fired tear gas, pepper spray and rubber bullets in a massive dawn raid on Sept. 13 that put an end to any overt opposition in the village.

Between 2,000 and 3,000 riot police stormed Wukan, which is administered by nearby Lufeng city. Some 40 people remain in police-run detention centers in nearby Lufeng and Haifeng counties, Zhuang Liehong, the son of one of the detainees, told RFA.

According to a court statement from Haifeng county obtained by a former Wukan resident in the United States and seen by RFA, a group of nine defendants were tried on Dec. 17: Wei Yonghan, Yang Jinzhen, Hong Yongzhong, Wu Fang, Zhuang Songkun, Cai Jialin, Li Chulu, Chen Suzhuan and Zhang Bingchai.

Read More At: http://www.rfa.org/english/news/china/china-moves-ahead-with-trials-of-rebel-villagers-in-secret-12202016110611.html

This province seems to be near Hong Kong.