Shanghai Authorities Sentence Petitioner Wang Qiaojuan to One Year of Reeducation Through Labor

The Shanghai Reeducation Through Labor Administrative Committee notified the family of Wang Qiaojuan on August 17 that she had been sentenced to one year of reeducation through labor for "disturbing the peace in a public place," according to an August 30 press release issued by Human Rights in China (HRIC), a respected U.S. human rights NGO. The Committee's decision says that Wang "bumped her head" when police attempted to stop her from boarding a train without a ticket. According to HRIC, however, companions who witnessed the incident say that they were buying tickets, and that two public security officials grabbed Wang and slammed her head against the window frame. HRIC previously reported that public security officials had detained Wang at her home on July 7. Police released five other petitioners who were detained in the following days on similar grounds.

The Associated Press reported (subscription required) on August 31 that a Shanghai police spokesman said he had no information about Wang, and that a labor camp official said she is not allowed to release information about any such cases.

Wang was at the train station on June 24 with 15 other Shanghai residents, who sought to travel to Beijing to deliver a petition to national authorities (the right of Chinese citizens to petition is guaranteed under Article 41 of China's Constitution). Their petition complained about Shanghai officials who blocked their application for access to documents relating to redevelopment projects in Shanghai. Wang was also among 22 people who went to Beijing on January 27 to express sympathy about the death of former Communist Party General Secretary Zhao Ziyang. Security officers detained that group in Beijing and forcibly returned them to Shanghai. When the group arrived in Shanghai on January 30, public security officers detained one of Wang's fellow petitioners, Xu Zhengqing. Authorities formally arrested Xu on February 25, and on June 19, Wang co-signed a public letter protesting Xu's detention.