Some 14 high-profile Chinese intellectuals have published an open letter on the Internet, demanding an inquiry into the deadly crackdown on protesters in a south China village.
The group denounced local Guangdong government officials in the shooting deaths, and compared the violence to the military crackdown on Tiananman Square protesters in 1989.
Local people and rights activists say some 20 protesters in the village of Dongzhou were shot by police December sixth.
Some one thousand people had gathered to protest inadequate compensation for land the government seized to build a power plant.
The Beijing government says only three villagers were killed and several injured after protesters attacked police, forcing officers to respond.
Tuesday, the village remains under tight security as locals mourn their dead, openly pleading with the government to hand over their bodies.
Some information for this report provided by Reuters.
