Witness to death of village chief arrested ahead of trial

Global Times, February 9, 2011

The trial of the truck driver who killed Qian Yunhui, a village leader in Zhejiang Province, took a controversial turn after it emerged that a witness to the incident was arrested by local police for "disrupting public services" ahead of the trial.

Si Weijiang, the lawyer representing Qian Yunhui's father, told the Global Times Tuesday that local police detained Qian Chengyu on January 25 and sent the arrest warrant to his family on January 27. The two Qian's are not related.

On February 1, Qian and other witnesses failed to appear for the trial, with the only witness appearing in court, Huang Biao, testifying that the death of Qian Yunhui was a traffic accident, Si said.

An anonymous official from Yueqing publicity department, Zhejiang Province, confirmed to the Global Times that local police arrested Qian Chengyu before the Spring Festival, and planned to charge him for disrupting public services.

Police did not clarify how Qian Chengyu had disrupted public services, Si said.

Qian Yunhui, a village leader in Yueqing, was run over by a truck on December 25 last year, leading to widespread suspicions that he had been murdered due to his constant petitioning of authorities over a land acquisition issue.

A local court ruled that Qian died in a traffic accident during the trial on February 1. The truck driver, Fei Liangyu, was sentenced to three and a half years' imprisonment for his role in Qian's death. Qian's family received 1.05 million yuan ($159,000) in compensation.

Si said that he planned to sue the companies related to the incident in an attempt to get greater compensation for Qian's family.

While local citizens and many net users questioned the results of the investigation, the Xinhua News Agency published an opinion piece Saturday saying it was the "rumors of networks pushing hands" that misled people into believing that Qian had been murdered.