On the morning of August 7th, in Chongqing, several petitioners went to Chongqing Fifth Intermediate People’s Court to listen to the trial of petitioner Mou Wengang’s dispute over “right to life, physical rights, and health rights.” After the trial ended and they left, police officers from Yuzhong District Nanji Gate Police Station and Daping Police Station arrived and forcibly took away multiple petitioners.
According to information provided by petitioners at the scene, after the trial, Zou Kaihui, the wife of Vietnam War veteran Jiang Shiyou, was forcibly summoned by police officers from Yuzhong District Nanji Gate Police Station. The crowd present demanded law enforcement officers to show their procedures. Subsequently, police officers from Daping Police Station, also under the jurisdiction of Yuzhong District, arrived at the scene and violently took away several petitioners.
Those known to have been taken away include: 61-year-old visually impaired Lei Fengping from Liangjiang New Area, who has hypertension and diabetes and could not be reached by phone after being taken to Lianglukou Police Station; visually impaired Zhao Weizhi from Banan District, who went missing after being forcibly taken to Daping Police Station; 74-year-old Liu Chengbi from Yubei District, who could not be contacted by phone after being taken to Daping Police Station; physically disabled Liu Chuanwei, who could not be reached by phone after being taken to Daping Police Station; and Lu Junling, whose phone was unreachable after being taken away.
Some petitioners claimed that the phones of those taken away were turned off or not answered, leading to a state of being uncontactable. Those taken away included visually and physically impaired individuals as well as elderly people. At the time of the incident, they had just finished the trial, had not had their meals, and some of the chronic patients needed to take medication on time. Their lives, health, and basic rights urgently need protection.
Subsequently, some petitioners immediately reported the case to the Chongqing Municipal Public Security Bureau Supervision and Audit Detachment. They cited Article 37 of the Constitution of the People’s Republic of China: Citizens’ personal freedom shall not be unlawfully infringed upon or restricted. Article 22 of the People’s Police Law of the People’s Republic of China: Police officers shall not abuse their powers or unlawfully restrict citizens’ personal freedom. The “Provisions on the Procedure for Handling Administrative Cases by Public Security Organs”: Different jurisdictional police stations should have legal cooperation procedures when jointly handling cases, and compulsory summons should only apply to suspected offenders, not ordinary people exercising normal supervision and inquiring about law enforcement procedures. Article 46 of the “Regulations on Letters and Visits Work”: It is strictly forbidden to retaliate against lawful bystanders and oversight citizens. Article 238 of the Criminal Law of the People’s Republic of China: Detaining others’ personal freedom without lawful approval procedures and factual basis may constitute illegal detention and a violation of the law.
Petitioners demanded to immediately inform the families of the whereabouts of all missing individuals, ensure that elderly patients take medication on time and have regular meals. They requested the retrieval of complete law enforcement recorder video footage, verification of the legality of the approval and cooperation documents for the joint law enforcement of the two police stations; launch an inspection investigation into the police officers involved in the violent forced removal of the public, and hold them accountable according to regulations. They also demanded the protection of the basic personal rights of the elderly and disabled individuals.
As of the evening of that day, some petitioners had returned home, while the situation of some petitioners remained unclear.