Family of man beaten to death appeals for compensation

By Yang Lifei  |   2008-11-14  |     ONLINE EDITION

THE family of a man beaten to death by officials has appealed for compensation of more than 1.28 million yuan (US$182,857) to a higher court in Hubei Province.

The family said it was angry at the light sentences given to the assailants of Wei Wenhua. They were handed sentences between three and six years by Hubei Qianjiang City People’s Court on Monday for beating Wei to death after he was spotted filming their clash with villagers.

The family appealed to Hubei Hanjiang Intermediate People’s Court yesterday morning, according to Hunan Province based Legal Weekly.

In addition, the family has forwarded a protest application to Qianjiang City Prosecutors’ Office over the investigation, the report said. It did not state if the office had accepted the protest.

On January 7, farmers were protesting to officials who planned to dump garbage on their land. Wei, 41, general manager of a Tianmen City construction firm, was nearby and started recording the clash on his cell phone. Once the officials realized they were being recorded, more than 20 urban administration officers started beating Wei. The beating triggered a heart attack, which killed Wei, according to the court's verdict.

The family has previously claimed Wei did not have a history of heart disease but a further appraisal was rejected.
Qianjiang City People's Court ruled that Sun Daibang, the team leader in charge of discipline inspection of the city's Urban Administration Bureau, was mostly to blame for the man's death. Sun was sentenced to six years for manslaughter.

Xiong Wei, former director of the Tianmen Sanitation Bureau, was handed a five-year sentence, as was Yan Zhiming, who worked at the Tianmen Urban Administration Bureau. Hu Luohong, another employee of the Tianmen Urban Administration Bureau, was given three years behind bars.