Western Journalist Brutally Beaten in Taishi Village
By Gao Ling
Epoch Times Staff
TAISHI, China - On October 9, a reporter from the British newspaper the Guardian, Benjamin Joffe-Walt, and a Member of the People’s Congress, Lu Banglie, went to Taishi village, Guangdong province to conduct an interview. Around 7:00 pm, they were brutally beaten in the village. According to villagers’ reports via telephone, “they were nearly beaten to death, it was terrible!” When reporters once again asked about Mr.Joffe-Walt and Mr. Lu around 11:30 p.m. Beijing time, villagers told the reporter that they had been taken away by the local police. When a reporter called the Yuwotou police station, the officer on duty answered, “None of your business! you should listen to the news or call number 110 to check. I do not know anything and we have no right to answer any questions from overseas reporters!”
According to reports on boxun.com, the Guardian reporter Mr. Joffe-Walt and his assistant Mr. Chen, flew from Beijing to Guangdong on October 8, at night; they originally intended to interview some Taishi villagers, who had defended their civil rights by cosigning a letter to impeach their village leader but had encountered tremendous disturbance and pressure from local government.
At 7pm, Lu Banglie, who had planned to come back first, still did not return, and Mr. Joffe-Walt could not be reached by phone. Their friends, waiting outside the village, became worried and started making calls asking villagers to go and find out about their situation. Suddenly, his British companion received a text message from Joffe-Walt, “Our car is being surrounded and we are being beaten up!”
Immediately after that, villagers from Taishi village called back with shocking news, “They are in Taishi village and being brutally beaten up by a group of ruffians, the foreigner was nearly beaten to death, it was terrible, quickly call for help!”, “The security officers that were beating them, are employed by the Secretary of the Communist Party of Taishi village Branch, the secretary paid the security 100 yuan (US$13) per day, their task was to drive outsiders and foreigners out of Taishi village. These security officers drank everyday and were always ready to pick fights everywhere, it is a nightmare!”
On October 8, Abel Segretin from Radio France International and Liu Xiaoxin from South China Morning Post were asked to show their identity documents near Taishi village, They were later severely beaten by more than 20 people. Before this incident, Liu Xin, a Malaysian female reporter from South China Morning Post; Ai Xiaoming, a professor from Guangdong Zhongshan University; Tang Jinglin and Guoyan, lawyers representing Taishi villagers, and a Hong Kong media reporter, were also beaten or threatened in Taishi.
The British Consulate in Guangzhou was informed of the incident and has launched emergency rescue efforts. People in China are calling for more overseas media to pay attention to this matter and help rescue overseas reporters who are concerned about civilian affairs in China.
The telephone number of Yuwotou police station: 86-20-8491-3251
The telephone number of British Guardian reporter Benjamin Joffe-Walt's assistant Mr. Chen: 13818616670
For background story, please see:
Taishi Village's Struggle for Democracy in China (Photo Essay, Part I), Chinese Legal Community Provides Assistance to Missing Attorney, and Chinese Villagers’ Lawful Election Meets Crackdown
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Human Rights
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