Photo: VCG

Police in Southwest China’s Chongqing Municipality apologized on Sunday for issuing an illegal subpoena and using excessive force during a law enforcement procedure involving a woman who made a complaint about a police officer. The apology came after the case triggered outrage online.

Police in Chongqing’s Yuzhong district, apologized on Sunday on China’s social media platform Sina Weibo, saying that two police officers involved in the case, Fu and Chen, conducted an illegal oral summons against Wang, 35, and hit her parents with weapons.

The district police authority ordered the removal of Fu and Chen from their duties and put them under investigation by the discipline inspection and supervision departments.

The case can be traced back to May 2020, when Wang called police of Wanglongmen police station in Yuzhong district for help to settle an argument with a person named Li. Chen, a police officer of the local station, was responsible for handling the case.

When Chen later summoned Wang and Li for a mediation at the police station for the second time, at around 7 pm on June 18, 2020, Wang did not agree to go to the station immediately as she just left work and worried that Li would not attend.

However, Chen threatened Wang over the phone and said: “Do not pretend that you know everything relying on your master’s degree.”

Wang later called the Chongqing police and filed a complaint against Chen for the offence. 

At around 7:41 pm, the Wanglongmen police station received an order from the district police and went to Wang’s house.

Chen and his three colleagues arrived at Wang’s house at around 8 pm. Wang said that she had told Chen not to come in after she opened the door and saw him. But Wang was dragged out by the police while she tried to struggle. 

Wang’s mother tried to stop the officers but the police accused her of obstructing official duties and sprayed her with pepper spray. Wang’s father, who came to check on Wang’s mother, was also pepper-sprayed and beaten with a police baton, news portal ifeng.com reported.

Wang said that she had filed a complaint to the police as she thought this was a case of excessive use of force in law enforcement, but on August 7, 2020, the district police replied that the complaint was not based on real facts. 

Wang said that in mid-August, the police had asked the district procuratorate to approve the arrest of Wang’s parents but it was not approved after a review.

Wang and her parents filed lawsuits against the police in late December 2020 for issuing an illegal subpoena and using excessive force during a law enforcement procedure.

In mid-July, 2021, the local district court judged in first instance that the police violated legal procedures in summoning Wang without an order and that there was an illegal use of force and weapons towards Wang’s parents.

The police refused to accept the judgement and filed an appeal.

The case has attracted netizens’ attention on Sina Weibo, with some questioning whether there was abuse of power and neglect of duty by the local police involved in the case.

The appeal was withdrawn in the notice released by the local police.