Beijing ( AsiaNews) - Exasperated by continued violence endured while trying to deliver a petition to the central government, a man from the province of Henan stabbed to death one of the men hired by the local government to " intercept and bring home" all those who seek to complain to the national communist authorities . The practice of "petitioning", which dates back to the times of the emperors and was retained by the Communist Party, means any person who, under law , has the right to complain to Beijing if they have suffered abuse and embezzlement.
Gong Jinjun , 57, was arrested in the capital along with other citizens of his province, forcibly dragged into a vehicle and forced to return home. During the trip he attacked with a knife 2 of 8 "interceptors" : one died and the other was injured in a serious way . Before the forced "repatriation ", Gong and other protesters were held in a "black prison", an unofficial prison forbidden by law, but in fact tolerated by the authorities , where dissidents, protesters and even religious figures often unwelcome to government are kept.
In recent years, Gong has tried several times to get justice from the central government regarding the forced demolition of his house, but has never succeeded precisely because of these "interceptors" . As explained by the Southern Weekend, which reported the news , they are people - often government officials - hired by various provinces to stop those who try to complain about them. According to the Law on Petitions , in fact, at the end of year the central government draws up a report and rewards or punishes those most deserving or contested provinces.
The Third Plenum of the Chinese Communist Party has committed itself - among various promises - to review the system of petitions . Also because more often than not it is a source of corruption within the government structure : in recent days Xu Jie , deputy director of the State Bureau for Letters and requests has been removed from his post and then arrested. The man is under indictment for "serious violations of discipline" (euphemism used by bureaucrats to indicate the state corruption ) .
Yu Jianrong , one of the leading activists against corruption in the country, received the news "with joy". Yu , a professor at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences , explains: "The system of petitions is the most fertile soil in the world for corruption. Its possible for local governments to bribe officials of the central one so that justice is not done " .