"Birdman" on trial over relocation protest

By Jane Chen | June 28, 2010, Monday |

Online Edition

A FARMER in southwest China's Chongqing Municipality went on trial today after living in a tree for three months in protest against the local government's relocation of his home.

Chen Maoguo, from Fengjie County, was charged with gathering the public to disturb traffic, in Fengjie County People's Court, today's Nanfang Metropolis Daily reported.

Chen pleaded not guilty. The court heard that Chen's house covering more than 1,200 square meters was demolished in December 2008 to make room for a state expressway.

He was offered a compensation of 390,000 yuan (US$57,441) in cash and apartments by the local government but he demanded more.

After the talks broke down, Chen built a small hut above a 15-meter-high tree in his courtyard on August 3, 2009 and lived there for more than three months in protest. He hoisted up all his daily necessities by ropes.

Chen's story was soon published online and he became popularly known as "birdman."

On November 18, he moved down from the tree hut after the local government agreed to raise compensation to 800,000 yuan.

But later that day, police arrested him on the accusation of gathering the public to disturb social order.

The 800,000-yuan compensation has been frozen, his wife Shen Zhenglan told Nanfang Metropolis Daily.

Shen said the detention was a shock as the government had promised not to punish Chen after he moved out of the tree hut.

The newspaper cited a report by Fengxian's publicity department saying that Chen had used loud speakers in the tree hut to urge villagers to protest the against relocation and interrupt work at the expressway construction sites.

Prosecutors said Chen had encouraged villagers to block construction trucks on September 17 and October 25, "seriously disordering the traffic."

But Chen argued in court that he simply talked about his own home, and villagers interrupted the traffic out of their own dissatisfaction with the relocation, which hit more than 200 families.

Villagers said Chen is illiterate. What he recited through the speaker was the government principle of "fairness, justice and openness" for land use as well as classic slogans from the late Chairman Mao.

He was first charged with an offence against social order on May 21 but this was changed to traffic interruption at today's hearing.

Nation

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"Birdman" on trial over relocation protest

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