It’s a small bit of progress, but nonetheless worth noting. Via AP:
A Beijing court has sentenced 10 people to prison for illegally detaining petitioners, state media reported Tuesday, in an apparent blow for attempts by local governments to cover up abuses.
The petitioning system in China is basically a farce. Even if a petitioner beats the odds and manages to arrive in Beijing, avoiding government agents who seek to intercept and throw them into black jails, the chances of a petition actually being heard is slim to none. Basically, people would do better staying home and playing the lottery.
So, again, this has to be progress, right?
The government has recently begun acknowledging the existence of such places as part of modest attempts to stamp out the most glaring abuses of power.
The official Xinhua News Agency said on its microblog that the defendants received sentences Tuesday ranging from two years to six months. It said the defendants rounded up 11 petitioners and illegally detained them in two courtyards in Beijing for several days. The court said that this was a violation of citizens’ personal rights, Xinhua reported.
We’re not told how criminally negligent these 10 people must have been to warrant their jail sentence, or what other crimes they committed. Still, it’s clear what message the central government is trying to send to its people: trust us.
It shouldn’t take long — considering thousands of petitioners pilgrimage to the capital every year — before we find out whether they deserve that trust.
Please, Tao, you want to talk about a farce? How about the government pretending like they actually give a damn about these petitioners? This is obviously just some kind of PR move so they can look better in the eyes of the world. I’m sure those arrested were released mere hours later to a banquet of Baijiu and bitches. Probably high-fives all around. “Way to go! Fuck up those protesters!”
Right. Because we know how good the Chinese government is at PR…
“Beijing Cream has not been hacked”
Yes it has and so has Tao’s personal email. WE ARE WATCHING YOUR IP ADDRESSES
A Clue: According to a December 11, 2012 entry, TAO had an appointment with Richard Young at the NFL offices at China World Tower 2 room 1913.
“Antfarmks5″ is his user name on the Beijinger.
WE ARE WATCHING. STAY AWAY FROM THIS WEBSITE
No, you haven’t hacked the website. If you had you’d take it offline so we couldn’t read it instead of warning everyone to not read it. Or you’d post articles making Anthony look like an idiot.
Plus I’m the one who hacked the website and his email, not you! I know that on December 11th 2012 he wasn’t meeting with anyone from the NFL because he was at a dentist appointment and then off to an interview with a group of university students.
Damn script kiddies these days.
No, it is I who hacked BJC!! Muuaaahhhhaaa!!
That’s why I know the deep dark secret that Anthony Tao ate jiaozi just three days ago!!!