Court rules in govt's favor for demo case

Court rules in govt's favor for demo case

• Source: Global Times
• [08:32 March 21 2011]
• Comments

By Xuyang Jingjing

Government permission granted for a forcible demolition five years ago caused no significant losses, therefore the government does not need to compensate those affected, the Beijing No 2 Intermediate People's Court ruled Friday.

The plaintiffs' representative, Xu Xu, has been working the case of four families whose homes near the north gate of the Temple of Heaven were forcibly bulldozed in late 2006 and early 2007.

"We should have had the option to choose between money and relocation accommodation as compensation," said Tian Guiping, one of the plaintiffs. "But they only offered some money and told us to get out of there."

In 2006, the former Chongwen district government issued administrative rulings that would compensate each family with around 100,000 yuan ($15,220.93) for them to move.

Tian and several other families refused to accept the terms and their homes were torn down by force, said Tian.

A new apartment complex with units selling for around 40,000 yuan per square meter now stands where Tian and others once lived in low-rise houses, she said.

In 2007, the uncompensated families sued the former Chongwen district government over the demolition orders, and in 2008, the Chongwen district court ruled in favor of the residents and revoked the district government's administrative rulings.

"However, when we tried to get the compensation from the government, all the different agencies just start shuffling responsibility," said Tian.

Last year, the residents again sued the former Chongwen district government, which was merged with Dongcheng district's last July.

The Beijing No 2 Intermediate People's Court ruled on Friday against the plaintiffs, saying that the government does not need to compensate the families.

"We will appeal, because it's just not right what they did to us," said Tian. "We can't let them get away with that."

"In 2006 alone, there were over 1,000 such administrative rulings [permitting forcible demolition] in Chongwen, and only about 10 families sued," said Xu.