Police have launched a campaign in the Chinese village of Wukan to stop the protests of villagers upset over the jailing of the elected village chief.
On Tuesday, riot police arrested thirteen protesters as tear gas and rubber bullets were fired in the village of Wukan. Locals threw rocks and other sorts of projectiles at police as they were conducting arrests.
Wukan is reportedly in lock-down and controlled by authorities. According to the Chinese state news agency, Xinhua News Agency, the 13 individuals were arrested for disrupting public order and taking part in and inciting illegal assemblies.
Footage that emerged online shows the chaos between the villagers and the police that were dressed in riot gear.
In this video, protesters can be seen picking up rocks and projectiles on the ground and then throwing them at police. Several of them are waving the Chinese national flags.
In 2012, Lin Zuluan was elected the village’s chief in an attempt to end mass protests over land rights and corruption.
Earlier this year, he was arrested and charged with taking bribes. Last Thursday, he was sentenced to three years in prison after he confessed his crimes on television. Supporters of Zuluan say that the confession was forced and the charges were political.
Locals began taking footage around 4 am local time of police raiding homes and arresting people.
Video from 4am today shows swat police breaking into people's houses to arrest villagers in #wukan. pic.twitter.com/PLHxzGVOzJ
— Xinyan (@xinyanyu) September 12, 2016
Police said that some individuals were arrested for spreading “false information and old pictures to create the so-called ‘Wukan incident.”
The state-run Global Times newspaper reported that an official of Shanwei, South China’s Guangdong Province said some of the village’s seized land had been returned.
Reporters near the village are unable to get into the area due to tight police control.
[revad2]
