Beijing Olympics protest applicant sent to labor camp: rights group+

BEIJING, Sept. 24 Kyodo - A network of Chinese human rights activists and groups said Wednesday that a
Chinese man who applied to hold a demonstration during the Beijing Olympics has
been sent to a labor camp.
Chinese Human Rights Defenders said in a statement that Liu Xueli, 42, was
arrested Tuesday at his home in the northern province of Henan and has begun a
sentence of ''reeducation through labor.''
Liu applied to hold a demonstration at one of the designated ''protest parks''
in Beijing during the Olympics in August over the seizure of land for
development near his home.
The rights group said that Liu has been under virtual house arrest since he
made the protest application. No reason has been given for the labor sentence,
nor has it been made clear how long he will have to serve.
Liu already spent a year in a labor camp after he protested against the local
government seizing land from villagers in Henan in 2004, the statement said.
Public Security Bureau staff in Luoyang in Henan and neighboring Mengjin County
said they had no information about the case and declined to comment.
The authorities in Beijing said that 77 applications were made to hold protests
during the Olympics, but all were turned down.
Officials said the vast majority of grievances would be better resolved through
consultations with relevant government departments.
Two elderly women from Beijing -- Wu Dianyuan, 79, and Wang Xiuying, 77 -- were
threatened with a one-year sentence of reeducation through labor after they
applied to hold a protest during the Olympics, but the threat was later
withdrawn by the authorities.
Reeducation through labor is usually enforced on those committing less serious
crimes in China.
The practice has been widely condemned by international human rights groups
because detainees can be held for up to four years without any formal charges,
trial or legal hearings.
==Kyodo