Police nab internet user in southern China for posting ‘hate speech’ about dead colleague
Suspect praised violence against police on the day an officer was beaten to death in the line of duty
Police in southern China have tracked down an internet user who confessed to posting hate speech against an officer who was beaten to death while on duty on the day before Lunar New Year and has been portrayed by the authorities as a martyr, the Guangzhou police said yesterday.
According to a screen grab published in Guangzhou’s Xinxi Daily on January 27, the Weibo blogger lukehcen0 shared news that police officer Qu Yuquan had been fatally assaulted by five people at a karaoke bar in Harbin, capital of Heilongjiang province.
In the caption beneath the news, lukehcen0 wrote : “Anyone who kills or beats up a cop is a hero. Thumbs up!”
Qu, aged 38, and another officer were on patrol on Friday when they responded to a report of a brawl in the bar. Qu was set upon by a group of people and beaten unconscious. He was pronounced dead later in hospital. The report did not say if the other officer was injured.
Qu’s wife is a theatre nurse at the same hospital, and was said to have fainted from shock when told of his death.
Harbin police quickly detained five suspects in the attack.
Qu was hailed by authorities as a martyr, and state media rolled out reports mourning his death.
6 police held after student beaten to death outside Harbin nightclub
Guangzhou police said on their Weibo account that a Weibo user, surnamed Chen, had been traced to Liwan District of Guangzhou on Saturday.
“[The user] has publicly written in insulting language about a sacrificed police officer which caused public outrage online. Chen admitted to such behaviour after our initial interrogation,” the police statement posted on January 29 read.
Chen’s account was not found on Weibo on Monday and police said they would continue gathering evidence related to the incident.
In June 2015, Zhao Wen, the former editor of the Lanzhou Daily News in Gansu province had his press card revoked and was sacked for using “insulting language against police” on his Weibo account.
