Beijing demolishes home of detained rights activist

Beijing - Authorities in Beijing on Friday razed the home of a rights activist who has spent seven months in police custody since she was accused of injuring a worker in a dispute over plans to demolish the property. The home of Ni Yulan and her family was demolished on Friday morning as part of a local government redevelopment plan in Beijing's Xicheng district, supporters including Ni's husband, Dong Jiqin, told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa. Ni, 48, was arrested on April 15 when she tried to stop some two dozen people from knocking down a wall enclosing part of the yard outside their home, which they refuse to vacate for developers despite years of pressure and threats. The police claimed that she caused serious injury to a worker while she was trying to stop them from damaging her property. 'This was an excuse to arrest her,' Dong, 56, said in an interview earlier this month. 'They didn't have any evidence.' The authorities have not allowed Dong to visit Ni but a lawyer has seen her three times and reported that she was in poor health and complained of mistreatment during police interviews. Ni's trial was set for August but postponed, and Dong said he feared she could be sentenced to up to two years in prison this time. Her career was first interrupted in 2002 when police illegally detained her for 75 days for filming a forced relocation. During that detention, Dong said, Ni was beaten and not given medical treatment. She was left with permanent back and leg injuries and now walks with the aid of crutches, he said. Ni also lost her right to practise law following a criminal conviction in late 2002 for 'obstructing public business', the same charge she faces now. Dong said Ni had told her lawyer that the police had confiscated her crutches and made her crawl to use the bathroom during her latest detention. Ni's family are among hundreds of thousands of people moved over the past 20 years to allow the demolition of most of Beijing's traditional one-storey housing, which has made way for vast new commercial and residential complexes. Many Beijingers were forcibly evicted after refusing to move because they were unhappy with compensation or alternative accommodation offered by developers and the local government. Some attempted lawsuits, staged protests and lobbied officials over the heavy-handed redevelopment, but few succeeded in winning more than token concessions.