China protesters threaten suicide

By Francis Markus
BBC, Beijing

The protesters spent six hours on top of the roof

Six Chinese women have threatened to jump from the top of a six-storey apartment building in central Beijing.

They were demonstrating against corruption and trickery in China's courts.

After six hours of protesting from the roof, they were escorted away by Chinese police.

This is the second time in the last two months that a group suicide has been attempted as a form of demonstration in China.

The incident happened on a residential side street, lined with red-fronted six-storey apartment blocs.

The area is just a few hundred metres away from the high walled secrecy of the Zhongnanhai compound where Chinese leaders live and work.

Several fire engines with extension ladders lined up next to the building, and police cordoned off the pavement.

Pockets of local residents started to gather outside the doorways with their eyes trained anxiously upwards.

The focus of their attention was a small group of people on the roof of one block, brandishing what looked like white placards.

Firemen and unidentified negotiators raised themselves to the height of the protesters' rooftop using an extension ladder.

A couple of banners were unfurled down the front of the building, reading: "We accuse the police, the prosecutors and the courts in Liaoning province of corruption and trickery."

Mother's grief

An elderly woman bystander, who said she knew the protesters, explained that one of them was a mother who asserted that her son had been unjustly sentenced to 14 years imprisonment in the north-eastern province.

The petitioners, some with handkerchiefs on their heads against the fierce sun, were huddled towards the side of the building close by.

At the front, firemen had spread a yellow trampoline-like mat in an apparent precaution in case the group did jump.

This is not the first incident of its kind in Beijing. A few weeks ago, a group of petitioners also from north-eastern China threatened to jump from a building unless their grievances were addressed.

They were coaxed down and taken away by police. Eyewitnesses said Thursday's protest ended in a similar way.

A growing number of Chinese have been bringing petitions to Beijing to try to gain the attention of central authorities.

Human rights activists say they are frequently detained, despite Chinese officials' statements that petitioning is legal if it is done in compliance with the regulations.

Many of the protests have been about the demolition of homes and unemployment issues.

A group of foreign journalists working for media including the BBC were detained for about two hours after police said they had violated government regulations by trying to report from the scene without prior permission.