Letter seeks release of Taishi residents held after trying to oust their director
Dissidents have launched a signature campaign to press the National People's Congress and top leaders to investigate the Panyu government's role in the blocking of Taishi villagers' attempt to oust their director.
An open letter, which collected 30 signatures within hours, including those of dissidents Liu Xiaobo and Zhao Dagong and lawyer Teng Biao, also calls for a probe into the beating of a Hubei lawmaker who helped the villagers.
It will be handed to President Hu Jintao , Premier Wen Jiabao and NPC chairman Wu Bangguo before the legislature sits next spring.
The letter also sought the immediate release of activist Yang Maodong , who is better known as Guo Feixiong , and Feng Qiusheng , a leader of the campaign, from detention.
The party committee and government of Panyu, a district of Guangzhou, made a 'fundamental mistake' by stating that the 'Taishi Democracy Incident' disrupted social order when it had nothing to do with stability, the letter said.
'The villagers only wanted two things - to have a public audit of village accounts and recall their village director,' it said.
