Chinese farmer blows himself up in court
The man had rejected a court sentence linked to a land dispute. Four people apart from the farmer were killed, including the court president and a local official of the Communist Party.
Beijing (AsiaNews/BBC) A Chinese farmer detonated a bomb in a courtroom in north-west China. The farmer and another four people were killed in the blast, including the president of the court and a local official of the Communist party. At least 20 others were injured.
According to reports from the official press agency Xinhua, the 62-year-old farmer burst into the courtroom on Friday morning during a hearing and detonated the explosive. The man had not accepted the outcome of a case between his late son and daughter-in-law. Xinhua did not supply further details.
In recent years, stories like this have been on the rise in China, bearing witness to farmers' discontent with land disputes. The number of petitions, clashes and violence at individual and village level are also increasing. The common people, who feel betrayed by China's one-party state but who have no way to gain recourse, could easily find themselves resorting to violence to vent their frustration. They often use bombs, which are quite easily available in China, as opposed to firearms, which are strictly controlled.
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