A blow for freedom: The campaign in memory of Sun Zhigang, 10 years on
Ten years ago three graduates shocked by the custody death of Sun Zhigang sent a petition that led to a significant step towards the rule of law
When Xu Zhiyong read a news report in late April, 2003, about a young man who had been beaten to death in police custody, he slumped dumbfounded in front of his computer.
Sun Zhigang, 27, a graphic designer from Wuhan , was picked up by police on March 17, 2003, during a random identity check in Guangzhou, where he worked.
Unable to produce a temporary residence permit, Sun was placed in a custody and repatriation centre. Three days later he was dead after being attacked by staff and inmates.
A postmortem examination showed he suffered extensive bruising to his heart, brain, lungs, liver and kidneys.
Sun's death caused a national outcry and led to angry demands for the scrapping of the regulation that gave police the power to arbitrarily detain people found without urban residency permits in cities. Xu and best friends Teng Biao and Yu Jiang , who had all recently graduated with doctorates in law from the prestigious Peking University, decided they had to take action.
Ten years ago today, they sent an open letter to the National People's Congress Standing Committee, petitioning it to conduct a review of the regulation on the detention and repatriation of non-city residents.
They argued it was unconstitutional because it violated the personal freedom of citizens.