Truck Driver Sentenced to Prison in Villager’s Death

VOA Breaking News
February 1, 2011 at 10:15 pm

A Chinese court has given a three-and-a-half year prison sentence to a truck driver involved in the controversial death of a village chief in east China.

Qian Yunhui was crushed to death by a truck on December 25, outside his village in Zheijang province, where he and other villagers blocked the road to prevent the construction of a power plant.

The court ruled Tuesday that the truck driver, Fei Liangyu, was guilty of driving without a license and causing the traffic accident which killed Qian.

Qian's family is to receive $150,000 compensation from the construction company that employed the truck driver.

Qian's death has sparked a nationwide Internet debate on whether his death was an accident or murder.

Some witnesses say he was deliberately run over for campaigning against land seizures.

Key evidence used by the defense was video footage obtained from the watch that Qian allegedly wore during the accident.

Protests against new construction are frequent in China where people are rarely consulted about projects that disrupt their life style, or force them to relocate, with little or no compensation.

The French news agency reports that Qian had been detained three times since 2003 for demanding compensation for farmers whose land was seized.