petitioner

From his balcony in Shanghai, Feng Zhenghu greets petitioners who have traveled for assistance with their grievances.  For many, that is as close as they can get to the human rights activist, who has been under virtual house arrest for launching "Shanghai Expo of Unjust Cases," a website that used the problematic Shanghai Expo as a platform to critique the city government. 

Feng Zhenghu made headlines last year when he squatted in the Tokyo Narita International Airport for over three months, after being denied re-entry to China eight times.   He returned home in February and a few months later "Chinese authorities began restricting his movements."
 

A well-known advocate for Chinese petitioners and a self-taught lawyer, Feng Zhenghu insists that he is only demanding the observation of current laws by authorities.  He remains optimistic on the possibility of change, calling upon the public to "overcome our fear... and insist on the truth in life."  

A protester from Heilongjiang, was arrested in Tiananmen Square for throwing paint on Chairman Mao's portrait, the Telegraph reports.

"The audacious attack echoes the 1989 Tiananmen Square protest when three young men threw ink-filled eggs at the portrait in a gesture of defiance against China' Communist ruling party that resonated around the world." A photograph of their attack is seen at right with LRF founder and executive director Harry Wu.

The famous Mao portrait's last attack was in 2007, "when Gu Haiou, a 35-year-old man from the far western province of Xinjiang, threw a burning object at the picture scorching the lower-left hand corner."

Apparently, "a spare that is always kept on hand for such eventualities."  For more see the Telegraph.

In another instance of the Chinese government almost actively recognizing the inconsistencies in their prison policies, Chen Cuilin, a woman detained by authorities in a mental hospital (ankang) in Jiangsu province was released for 50,000 Yuan earlier this week.  While the policy of using Mental Hospitals as temporary holding cells is certainly nothing new, it has recently come back in vogue, as this is the second instance this month of a mentally capable person being placed in one of these facilities as a kind of makeshift detention center.  While Chen Cuilin is not as well known as He Jian, a signer of Charter 08, her story also has a unique twist: she was released, albeit in exchange for a hefty sum. 

After being detained and moved through several black jails, and with her family constantly searching for her, they were finally informed by officials that she was being detained.  As there were concerns for her health, the family gathered 50,000 Yuan and submitted a written promise that Chen would no longer attempt to petition Beijing.  However, despite her slow recovery from an assortment of health problems that developed during her time in the various improvised detention centers, Chen remains certain that she will continue to appeal to Beijing to at least set up a trial for the men who killed her husband years ago.