Authorities destroyed the home of leading Chinese rights activist Ni Yulan on Friday in front of her distraught husband who pleaded with the government to release her from jail. Up to 200 police surrounded the central Beijing courtyard home of activist lawyer Ni and her husband, Dong Jiqin, as a bulldozer demolished the final sections of the property.
Authorities had already razed some of it in April, the same time that Ni was arrested and charged with "harming public property", according to her lawyer. "The home is not so important, what is important is that Ni Yulan should be released from jail," a visibly shaken and tearful Dong told AFP as he watched the razing of the home his parents bought in 1951 and where he was born.
"She was illegally arrested, beaten, jailed and illegally threatened to agree with this demolition." Workers came knocking on the door early Friday morning, while police blocked both ends of the road leading to the home, refusing entry to those without proper identification.
Dong, 56, was able to grab only a plastic bag of legal documents before he was escorted out of the home. Ni, 47, is a long-time campaigner against government-backed land grabs and had organised evicted residents to protest what they said were the "illegal forceful eviction and demolition of homes."
Such "land-grab" cases are one of the most sensitive social problems in China, with ordinary people nation-wide accusing local officials of enriching themselves through collusion with developers in lucrative real estate deals.
Courtyard homes around Ni's house in Beijing's Xinjiekou area were demolished years ago to make way for government and commercial buildings, as well as apartment blocks. Ni previously served a year in prison in 2002 for opposing evictions in Beijing and helping others petition the government in similar cases.
She was then arrested in April after campaigning to save her own home. Officials at the court which ordered the demolition refused to comment on the case on Friday but an employee of the Xicheng government told AFP at the scene that the demolition was legal.