Hebei village head gets 20 years in jail for violence, graft

A former village head in North China’s Hebei Province was sentenced to 20 years in jail after her clique stormed local government offices and beat up TV reporters, the Beijing Youth Daily reported Wednesday.

Meng Lingfen, the former head of Quanqiu No. 2 village in the city of Dingzhou, was placed under investigation after she was accused of attacking reporters in August 2015 and was subsequently found to have committed a series of crimes since 2012, the report said.

Meng, 49, received a 20- year jail term and a 155,000 yuan ($ 23,287) fine for crimes including vandalism, embezzlement and inciting quarrels, the Dingzhou People’s Court announced Monday.

In July 2015, Meng sent a forklift to destroy over 100 square meters of crops to “punish” a villager for not paying for a land contract on time.

The villager later made a call to Hebei Television. When a news team came to conduct an interview with him, Meng and her clique stopped them and stole their equipment and cell phones. Meng also slapped the villager during the confrontation.

When the reporters went to the township government to file a complaint, Meng’s clique stormed the office, beating the reporters and splashing them with pesticides.

Authorities subsequently relieved Meng of her post, and she and her accomplices were detained by Dingzhou police on August 31, 2015.

The prosecutor in Meng’s case explained at a May provincial meeting on the criminal investigation that Meng organized her family and friends to help her instigate disputes, sabotage businesses and even commit acts of violence.

After the trial ended on Monday, Meng refused to accept the ruling and chose to appeal the decision, the report said.