China jails nine over protests in Guangdong ‘democracy’ village
Nine residents of ‘democracy village’ to serve up to 10 years over unrest sparked by imprisonment of an elected leader and simmering land disputes
Nine Guangdong villagers have been jail for up to 10 years for taking part in protests in September in a community once seen as a symbol of grass-roots democracy in China.
Villagers in Wukan, 170km northeast of Hong Kong, expressed frustration over the sentencing, which critics said was a warning to others not to stage similar demonstrations.
The nine jailed villagers did not organise the protests, but were among the more vocal participants, one resident in his 20s said, refusing to be identified for fear of persecution.
“They just tended to speak up more during the protests. People all spoke a lot,” the villager said.
“Ten years is too much. We are not criminals,” he said. “And the land dispute remains unsolved.”