They Beat Him Lifeless

"Mr Lu was a very soft-spoken man, one of those skinny guys who looked like he might start tearing at any moment. Born as a peasant in Baoyuesi village of Bailizhou town in Zhijiang city in Hubei province, he was a people's representative and had been in the village of Taishi since the start of a democratic movement in the area.

That movement, deeply unpopular with the local authorities, has come to be seen as a weather vane for China's tentative steps toward a more representative society. It has led to beatings and mass arrests among its population as well as for observers who ventured into its environs."

Read the Rest:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/china/story/0,7369,1588595,00.html

More about Lü Banglie
http://chinadigitaltimes.net/2005/09/the_taishi_elections_eswn.php
http://www.chinaelections.org/en/readnews.asp?newsid=%7B3805988D-C32B-46DC-9FA3-1955A877193B%7D