8 Dissidents Call for Tiananmen Compensation
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BEIJING — Eight dissidents from northeastern China have appealed to the government to compensate those imprisoned and the families of those killed in the Tiananmen Square crackdown 11 years ago, a human rights group said Saturday.
In an open letter to President Jiang Zemin and Premier Zhu Rongji, the dissidents said the government was “absolutely wrong” to crush the pro-democracy protests centered on Tiananmen Square, said the Hong Kong-based Information Center for Human Rights and Democracy.
The government sent in troops who shot their way through Beijing on June 3-4, 1989, killing hundreds, perhaps thousands, and ending seven weeks of protests.
To prevent commemorations, authorities stepped up security Saturday, and extra military police patrolled in front of Tiananmen gate.
In their letter, the dissidents from northeastern Jilin province called for the release of political prisoners and for political reforms and democracy, the Hong Kong center said.
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