Officers punished for beating lawyer

BEIJING - Four policemen in Wenchuan county, epicenter of the 2008 earthquake in Southwest China's Sichuan province, have been punished for attacking a lawyer who refused to make way for officials who were visiting a rebuilt school.

Beijing lawyer Zhou Ze and two of his friends were on their way to visit a rebuilt middle school in Yingxiu town on Saturday.

"Suddenly, at the square near the school a young man appeared and asked me to get out immediately. He told me there were some officials inspecting the school," Zhou told China Daily on Tuesday.