Beijing police detained “black jail” operators and rescued detainees after receiving a complaint from six petitioners from Jiangsu Province who had been previously jailed there.
More than 10 policemen broke into a remote storage compound and rescued 13 illegally jailed petitioners, according to Yan Tingzhong, one of six petitioners on Tuesday who presented a banner to thank Beiqijia police station in Changping district.
Yan told the Global Times on Tuesday they had been forcibly thrown in a van by about seven men with tattoos on their bodies after visiting the Jiujingzhuang petitioner reception center in Fengtai district on July 4.
They were taken to a courtyard in Changping, Yan said, where their identity cards, mobile phones, cash and other belongings were taken.
More than 60 other people were detained in the courtyard, including an 81-year-old woman, kids and people with disabilities, Yan alleged. There was no bed and all had to sleep on the floor. The food was poor.
“There was no way to escape as there were no other residents living nearby to help us and they beat attempted escapees until they screamed,” Yan said.
The six petitioners were released after four days for promising not to return and petition. They were sent back to their hometown of Yancheng, a prefecture-level city in Jiangsu Province, according to Yan.
They instead returned to Beijing and called Changping police on July 12.
The Beiqijia police station issued a work explanation letter on Saturday to the six petitioners to prove that they had reported the illegal detention to the police, the Beijing Youth Daily reported on Tuesday.
The courtyard was locked and empty on Monday, and nearby residents did not know what went on there, the newspaper reported.
Beijing police confirmed to the Beijing News that they had detained the people who had detained the petitioners but did not reveal more details.
Zi Xiangdong, a spokesman with Beijing Municipal Public Security Bureau, told the Global Times on Tuesday he was unaware of the case.
Global Times