Society

Officers go on trial for beating

By Shang Ban (China Daily)
Updated: 2010-02-27 09:13

Officers go on trial for beating
Peng Lin's son plays beside the pictures that show injuries to Peng's body on July 27, 2009. [China Daily/Xue Xiaoxiang]

SHANGHAI: Five former urban management officers, or chengguan in Chinese, accused of beating a street peddler nearly to death last year in the city's Minhang district went on trial on Friday.

The five were charged by the Minhang district prosecutors with intentional injury. According to Chinese law, a person charged with this crime faces a maximum of five years in prison.

The five suspects are Gu Jianzhong, Zhu Guanxing, Shen Fuliang, Sun Xiong and Qin Chunhua, all Shanghai locals.

Prosecutors said Sun Xiong had a criminal record of robbery and theft before he enlisted as an urban management officer. Zhu Guanxing is an illiterate. The highest educational background of the five is junior high school.

The trial ended on Friday without a verdict.

Video shown to the court by the prosecutors revealed that the peddler, Peng Lin, clashed with officers who had confiscated the watermelons he was trying to sell. Officers held Peng against the wall and then thrust him into a mini-van.

The 28-year-old Peng, whose brain and spine were seriously damaged, is now half-conscious in a hospital, breathing only with the aid of a respirator. According to a medical report issued recently by Changning District Central Hospital, the chance of Peng becoming brain dead is very high.

The clash broke out at about 4:30 pm on July 11 last year between Peng, a watermelon seller from Anhui province, and the chengguan, who were trying to clear out unlicensed peddlers on a street in Minhang district.

As the chengguan tried to confiscate his stall, Peng threatened them with a knife that was used to cut watermelons and bit one officer in the leg. Peng was then shoved into the mini-van, where he was allegedly beaten by the five suspects before being taken to the police station.

Peng was unable to talk shortly after arriving at Jiwang police station and was rushed to Changning District Central Hospital by his relatives at about 9 pm.

The five were taken into custody by the police on July 14 and arrested on Aug 20.

During the trial on Friday, none of the five admitted they hit Peng in the head, the main area of his injuries, while in the mini-van. Gu Jianzhong said he hit Peng on the leg and Zhu Guanxing said he punched Peng once.