The five defendants; Heng Tinghan, Wang Bingbing, Zhao Yanbing, Heng Mingyang, Liu Dongsheng were prosecuted in August 2007 for their role in the illegal brickyard scandal that rocked the country last year, and are all currently in prison, with Zhao Yanbing on death row.
Chen’s lawyers realize that they are unlikely obtain financial compensation directly from the defendants but hope the Linfen government will intervene in the case to either provide compensation directly or make up the difference in a court awarded settlement. The lawyers see the case as public interest litigation that can help promote the establishment of government funds, specifically to assist the victims of criminal cases who cannot obtain redress directly from those who violated their rights.
Chen had previously attempted to file an administrative suit against several government departments in Shanxi’s Hongdong county, including the Public Security Bureau, for failing in their administrative responsibility and legal obligation to the victims of the illegal brickyards. The suit was withdrawn under pressure from the local government officials who suggested a civil suit would be more appropriate.
In his civil suit testimony, Chen, now 30, said:
In March 2005, I returned to Xian after working outside the province as a migrant labourer. At the railway station, I was forced into a bus and taken to a brick factory near Rui city in Shanxi leased by a labour contractor named Heng Tinghan. On my second day there, I tried to escape, but Heng Tinghan caught up with me, and I was severely beaten. From then on, I no longer dared to think about escaping. In the brick factory, I worked from five in the morning till midnight with no rest, and was given three meals a day. Breakfast and dinner were always steamed buns and thin flour gruel, lunch was noodles. And so it was like this, I was forced to work for 11 months in the brick factory, without a single cent of pay. In February 2006, along with several other brick workers, I was transferred by Heng Tinghan, to Wang Bingbing’s brick factory in Hongdong county.
On arrival in Hongdong, our fate did not change; it was still arduous labour, day and night, three simple meals a day, and dirty and messy sleeping quarters. We continued to face severe upbraiding and merciless beatings from the contractor and the work supervisor, again with no pay whatsoever. In June 2006, whilst digging, the ground collapsed, I was knocked unconscious and buried under a pile of earth. When I came to, I was lying on a bunk bed, unable to move. It was only after that I was sent to hospital for treatment. The doctor found that my shoulder blade was badly broken and inserted a metal plate to stabilize it. After only a week in the hospital, I was taken back to work by the defendant Heng Tinghan. Since I could not perform heavy tasks, I was given only light duties. But after barely a month, Heng Tinghan told the doctor to remove the metal plate from my shoulder and once again I was forced to engage in hard labour. On 27 May 2005, [after a government ordered crackdown on illegal brickyards in Shanxi] we were rescued by the local police. Only then was I able to escape the inhumane and nightmarish circumstances, and to regain the freedom enjoyed by ordinary people.
I feel that the defendants severely violated our country’s criminal laws, curtailed my physical freedom, and the physical freedom of other fellow workers, forcing us to engage in exhausting and endless labour under the threat of violence. The defendants’ behaviour is abominable, with extremely serious consequences for society at large.
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