Guangzhou petitioners filed a lawsuit yesterday accusing the city government of inaction in handling complaints - days after Premier Wen Jiabao paid an unprecedented visit to petitioners in Beijing.
More than a dozen people, representing a total of 42 petitioners, lodged a hearing request at the Guangzhou Intermediate People's Court yesterday morning. They are trying to sue the city for failing to follow up their complaints after they were allowed to air them at a rare, large-scale reception in October.
Petitioners and rights advocates criticised the event as part of a publicity campaign designed to ease social tensions ahead of November's Asian Games in the Guangdong capital.
The mass reception on October 18 was hosted by top city officials, including Guangzhou Communist Party secretary Zhang Guangning and Mayor Wan Qingliang, as well as leading officials from 12 city districts. Many petitioners queued up overnight for a chance to get their voices heard.
Local media said nearly 4,000 complaints had been reported and the petitioners would receive replies within a month.
He Jianrong, 75, said he had submitted documents that substantiated his complaint about unfair compensation for property requisitioned in 2001 to Guangzhou city government staff that day, but had never heard back from the authorities. 'Maybe they've thrown my petition in the bin,' He said.