Alessandro Digaetano Photographer

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If a Chinese citizen felt that he was wronged but the local officials would give him no satisfaction, he could bring his recourse to Beijing and petition the National Petition Office or the Ministry of State or, more spectacular, CCTV in the hope of getting justice rendered..Seeking justice in the capital is a tradition rooted in China's imperial days, and even today Beijing maintains offices for tens of thousands of petitioners to file complaints against local officials for alleged corruption, theft, even murder. The practice of appealing to the central government reflects a lack of avenues available to ordinary Chinese to fight abuses of power as most courts remain under the control of Communist Party and government officials. When petitioners get to Beijing, they still face huge obstacles. They are therefore unlikely to be able to afford stay in hotels while they do their rounds of visits. So they congregate in certain 'petition' villages in the Beijing area, where they can stay at 'affordable' prices, as 3 to 50 Yuan for day. Then every day, hundreds of provincial prosecutors, local officials, undercover police and hired criminals are working in the capital as "retrievers" to stop the petitioners. When captured, petitioners are beaten and sent straight home. Where often staff doctors, all police employees, diagnose them with unspecified "mental disorders," trying to stop them before take other trip to Beijing. *** Local Caption *** Wang Hong Ling (left), 63 years old, spent 3 years of labor re-education where she was submitted. It was approved by the labor re-education committee of Sui Hua municipal government, Heilongijiang province in the name of pick quarrel and make troubles. Lu Ting (right), From Liaoning, 81 years old. It's no clear the reason of her petition because her strong dialect.
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Alessandro Digaetano
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Beijing Petitioners
If a Chinese citizen felt that he was wronged but the local officials would give him no satisfaction, he could bring his recourse to Beijing and petition the National Petition Office or the Ministry of State or, more spectacular, CCTV in the hope of getting justice rendered..Seeking justice in the capital is a tradition rooted in China's imperial days, and even today Beijing maintains offices for tens of thousands of petitioners to file complaints against local officials for alleged corruption, theft, even murder. The practice of appealing to the central government reflects a lack of avenues available to ordinary Chinese to fight abuses of power as most courts remain under the control of Communist Party and government officials. When petitioners get to Beijing, they still face huge obstacles. They are therefore unlikely to be able to afford stay in hotels while they do their rounds of visits. So they congregate in certain 'petition' villages in the Beijing area, where they can stay at 'affordable' prices, as 3 to 50 Yuan for day. Then every day, hundreds of provincial prosecutors, local officials, undercover police and hired criminals are working in the capital as "retrievers" to stop the petitioners. When captured, petitioners are beaten and sent straight home. Where often staff doctors, all police employees, diagnose them with unspecified "mental disorders," trying to stop them before take other trip to Beijing. *** Local Caption *** Wang Hong Ling (left), 63 years old, spent 3 years of labor re-education where she was submitted. It was approved by the labor re-education committee of Sui Hua municipal government, Heilongijiang province in the name of pick quarrel and make troubles. Lu Ting (right), From Liaoning, 81 years old. It's no clear the reason of her petition because her strong dialect.