Legislator missing after being beaten near Taishi
Journalist says activist going to troubled village was dragged from his car by mob
A mainland legislator has disappeared after being dragged from his car and beaten on Saturday while travelling to Guangdong's strife-torn Taishi village with a journalist working for a British newspaper.
The fate of Lu Banglie , deputy to the Zhijiang People's Congress in Hubei province , was last night unknown. Mr Lu had been advising Taishi residents on ways to oust unpopular village chief Chen Jinsheng , who has been accused of corruption, through electoral procedures.
Mr Lu had been travelling to Taishi with journalist Benjamin Joffe-Walt, who writes for The Guardian newspaper, and Joffe-Walt's mainland assistant when they were stopped at a roadblock.
According to Jonathan Watts, Beijing correspondent for The Guardian, Joffe-Walt saw about five men in police uniforms and another five in army uniforms at the roadblock. However, the uniformed men soon left the area, leaving 20 to 30 men in civilian dress.
Watts said the men dragged Mr Lu from the car and started beating and kicking him, leaving the journalist and his assistant in the car. The 34-year-old activist was beaten unconscious, but the assault continued for another 10 minutes.
'He was extremely badly beaten and we don't know if he is alive or dead. When Benjamin last saw him, he was lying unconscious by the side of the road,' Watts said.
He believed the 'thugs' were aware of Mr Lu's identity.
Joffe-Walt received 'a few slaps' after he was removed from the car and had his mobile phone smashed. He was taken to a government office in Yuwoutou township and later released, Watts said.
One internet report said Mr Lu was taken to Datong Hospital in Yuwoutou at about 11pm on Saturday, four hours after the beating. However, the hospital denied Mr Lu had been admitted. His mobile phone had been turned off.
Guo Yan - a lawyer representing activist Yang Maodong , who was detained for helping Taishi villagers in their struggle to remove Mr Chen - said: 'Nobody has any news about [Mr Lu].'
Another lawyer representing Mr Yang, Gao Zhisheng , said he believed local authorities were collaborating with gangsters, and the violence was backed by city and even provincial authorities.
A journalist from the South China Morning Post and a French reporter were pushed around when they attempted to enter the village on Friday.
There have been several previous incidents in which reporters' cars were attacked and activists and lawyers detained and harassed when they tried to enter Taishi - making the village almost inaccessible to outsiders.
Mr Lu is divorced and living with his 83-year-old mother. He was elected as chief of Baoyuesi village in Hubei after he ousted his predecessor in 2003.
