Dead chief's family accept payout
The family of a dead village chief accepted 1.05 million yuan (HK$1.24 million) as compensation for a traffic accident in which the chief was crushed under the wheels of a construction truck on Christmas Day.
At the time of his death, Qian Yunhui, the 53-year-old head of Zhaiqiao village, in Yueqing , Zhejiang , had struggled for six years against land requisitions. The police insisted the incident was a traffic accident but many suspected Qian was murdered.
Qian Chengxu , the victim's son, signed the compensation agreement on Wednesday morning following a marathon six-hour meeting in the Puqi county government building and after the family agreed to accept the police explanation. The money will be paid after the body is cremated.
Qian Chengxu said the compensation would be paid mainly by truck driver Fei Liangyu, and other related companies.
The government, the driver's employer and Qian's family each have a copy of the deal.
He said about 14 people attended the meeting, four from Qian's family.
'Our family has been under tremendous pressure,' he said. 'My mother now only wants to end it as soon as possible so our family can get back to normal. She is also concerned about my safety.'
The government had sent people to try to negotiate with the family several times before.
Some villagers were also taken in for interrogation after Phoenix TV quoted China Economic Times journalist Liu Jianfeng's investigation, which suggested Qian Yunhui might have switched on his video-recording watch before he died.
When Qian died, he was more than 300,000 yuan in debt because he had no income to support the family during his petitioning and spent 31/2 years in jail, his son said.
The compensation could also help pay for the medical costs of Wang Zhaoyan, 51, Qian's wife of 31 years, who fell sick within days of her husband's death.
Analysts said they were not surprised at the compromise.
A similar solution was reached in the 'My father is Li Gang' case, a drink-driving incident which involved the death of a female Hebei University student in November, which led to a 460,000 yuan payout.
'The authorities' usual tactics include putting pressure on victims and lawyers and forcing them to accept offers and compromise because the judicial system is not independent,' Beijing-based legal scholar Hao Jinsong said.
Law professor Xiao Han, of the China University of Political Science and Law, said on his Sina microblog that Qian's family shouldn't accept compensation unless they were under incredible pressure.
Qian Chengxu said he was grateful for people's understanding, 'but we all know in our hearts what the truth is'.
He said he decided not to take his father's body home because his mother could be devastated. 'We will cremate his body in four to seven days, and mourn with the ashes at home for two or three days and bury them,' he said.
