Petitioner tells of abuse and torture in ‘black jail’

An Anhui petitioner has revealed in court how he was tortured and kept in a “black jail” for two months, as he testified in the trial of one of his alleged abusers – a rare case highlighting China’s shady, unlawful detention centres.

Wang Weilong, a villager from Anhui province, testified that he was hauled away after filing a petition in 2012 before Beijing’s Supreme People’s Court. It was unclear what he was complaining about, but petitioners typically air grievances in the capital about social problems in their home areas.

Wang said that in the “black jail”, his guards “hit his head with a bell” and once “stabbed him with a burning metal prong", according to The Beijing News.

He was speaking at the trial of one of the alleged guards, surnamed Xing, at the Daxing District People’s Court in Beijing. Details about the case are scant, but the lawsuit was brought by the prosecutor’s office and deals with the illegal detention.

Wang presented photos to the newspaper showing long streaks of burn marks and scars on his body.

Wang said more than a dozen petitioners from other provinces were kept at the “black jail” when he was there, and claimed the provincial governments’ liaison offices in Beijing were behind the detentions.