Performance of officers during anti-Japan protests challenged
A driver badly injured during an anti-Japan protest in Xi'an filed a lawsuit against the city's police force on Thursday, accusing it of dereliction of duty.
Li Jianli filed his case with a court in the city's Lianhu district, demanding 500,000 yuan ($79,600) in damages.
This is the latest challenge to the actions of police during demonstrations in the Shaanxi provincial capital, with two other residents also demanding authorities disclose total losses and investigate how the incidents were handled.
On Sept 15, Li's skull was fractured when he was struck on the head with a steel lock several times by a protester. Li had been attempting to protect his Toyota car from vandalism in a crowded street.
Duan Wanjin, Li's attorney, said on Thursday: "It's time we examined how police performed during the protests. People have learned that they should reasonably and peacefully express their feelings, but the police authority has yet to learn a lesson and be better prepared for situations like this in the future."
A spokesman for Xi'an police denied the allegations and said they had not been informed of the lawsuit.
Demonstrations were reported in more than 80 Chinese cities after the Japanese government decided on Sept 11 to "purchase" China's Diaoyu Islands.
Although rallies against the "purchase" were orderly in many cities, violence broke out elsewhere, including Qingdao, Changsha and Shenzhen, where there was looting and assaults, and Japanese cars were damaged.
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