Instead of openly investigating the allegedly staged suicide of political activist Li Wangyang, the local authorities in Shaoyang city moved to force through the cremation of Li's body after a hasty autopsy conducted by government-appointed personnel. In addition, Li's family and friends have all been detained and are now out of touch from the rest of the world.
This past Sunday (June 11, 2012), around 25,000 people in Hong Kong took to the street to condemn the staged suicide of Li and mourn for the martyr, who lived his life in defense of justice and truth.
One of the groups at the rally was mobilized through a Facebook event [zh], “We are all Li Wangyang”. Hundreds of young people turned out in support, eyes covered with strips of white cloth, and walked 5 kilometers to mourn for Li Wangyang from Causeway Bay to the Liaison Office of the Central People's Government.
In the process, they recited more than 100 poems [zh] collected through the Facebook event page. Inmediahk.net has put up a video showing the mourners and the rally at vimeo [zh]:
Below is a translation of one of the poems, authored by Bitter Daisy [zh]:
Poster of the Facebook Event Page: We are all Li Wangyang
《未竟之志》 苦薏
一根白布
綁不住你自由的夢恫嚇妄語
再囂張跋扈也掩埋不住真相你
目不能視
卻能看到遠大的未來你
耳不能聽
卻能聽到女神的夢囈你
腿不能行
卻擋不住強大的心即使氣息失去了 心跳失去了
從今已後
不止息地撼動每一個人
你如飛絮落在人們心裡
開出火紅的花朵
從此
再沒有你我
萬相為一明天
一步一正念
就讓我們去繼承你的
未竟之志
A will unfulfilled
A piece of white cloth
Could not restrain your dream of freedom
Threatening voices
Tyrannical and domineering, could not cover up the truth
You
Whose eyes see not
Could see a great future
You
Whose ears hear not
Could hear the murmuring of a Goddess
You
Whose legs walk not
But whose heart continued to overcome
Even though there is no more breath or beating in your heart
Till the end of time
Every single person will be touched
Like a willow catkin, you rest in people's hearts
A flourish of red flower blossoms
And hence
There is no you and me
Everything merges together
Tomorrow
Every single step is a will
We are going to inherit
The unfulfilled Will
The hundreds upon thousands of protesters converged in Hong Kong's Central district and walked together to the Liaison Office, where they were welcomed with the Hong Kong police force's pepper spray. Below is a photo uploaded to Facebook by Aloi Wong:
Police used pepper spray to stop mourners from approaching the China government building.
Intimidated by the police action but determined to mourn in front of the official representative of the Central Chinese government, protesters blocked part of Connaught Road and surrounded the government building:
Thousands of protesters blocked the Conaught Road. Photo by Hong Kong Apple Daily News
In China, where public mourning and demonstration is not allowed, activists began making the public statement that “I will never commit suicide”, in protest against the staged suicide of Li Wangyang. Twitter user @gexun has created a Google doc [zh] to collect the statements, several of which have been translated below:
@tufuwugan: 本人身体目前健康（只有脂肪肝），心理阳光，乐观积极，对未来充满希望，等待天亮的时候审判它们，所以绝不可能自杀，本人走上杀猪不归路后，不敢做任何违法事情，更不敢吸毒、嫖娼，卖淫，杀人放火等，出门左顾右盼，礼让车辆，从不与百姓结怨。特此声明！
@chen_yunfei: 无论独裁者它认为它多么的强大，无论我在驯兽中遭受多么大的艰难困苦，无论魔鬼们用任何酷刑，我绝不自杀。如警方在宣布我是自杀，那也是被自杀！特此声明。
@raulmouse: 我，沈戈。曾用名沈尔植、老沈、鼠。当过高校民工、私营业主。典型处女座，患得患失、选择障碍、完美破病。胆小如鼠，嗜食好酒，贪恋美色，浮夸虚荣。除以家人性命要挟故，绝不自杀！特此声明。
So far more than 60 similar statements have been made published on Twitter. The final interview given by Li Wangyang has been translated and uploaded to YouTube, embedded here as background reference of Li's life.
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