Nine Wukan ‘rebel’ villagers jailed in China

BEIJING: Nine residents of the Chinese ‘rebel’ village of Wukan have been jailed for ‘disrupting social order’ after September protests against officials turned violent, leading police to shut down the settlement and impose a media blackout.

Wukan, a 13,000-strong fishing village in the southern province of Guangdong, became a symbol of resistance against corruption after a mass uprising over allegedly illegal land grabs propelled it onto global front pages in 2011.

Last September local police detained 13 residents for ‘disturbing public order’, a move that triggered mass protests in the village, including clashes with the police who quickly put the area on lockdown.

Now nine villagers have been jailed for between two and ten years for staging an unlawful assembly, parade and demonstration which “severely disrupted social order” and for disseminating false information, according to a statement posted Monday on the website of the People’s Court of Haifeng.

“The circumstances were so serious that manufactures and business could not operate and severe losses were caused,” the statement said.

Other charges included disturbing public transport and disrupting public services.

Several of the nine were among the 13 village residents detained in September.

The arrests and demonstrations that month followed the jailing of village chief Lin Zulian, who played a key role in the 2011 protests. — AFP