Surveillance ends at Chen village

8 Jun 2012, 2:59 pm   -   Source: AAP

Surveillance cameras trained on the Chen home have been removed and the bright street lamps dimmed, but his nephew remains in custody.

Blind activist Chen Guangcheng's village has returned to normal after being turned into a virtual prison camp while he was under house arrest.

The checkpoints, surveillance cameras and other measures had remained in place for weeks after Chen left for the US. Now there is no sign it was ever there.

"Finally we can sleep at night," said a villager who gave only her family name, Du. "In the past you could always hear footsteps from patrolmen and car noises at night, and the dogs barked."

"You no longer need to stop at checkpoints when you leave or enter the village. You can now walk down the road," said Du, a mother in her 20s. "I feel more at ease and happier."

Locals said the surveillance cameras trained on Chen home had been removed and the bright street lamps dimmed.

Two huts built at the village entrance to house the guards - and where outsiders trying to visit Chen had been beaten - had been torn down. Even the rubbish the guards piled up had been taken away.

"It was as if the whole thing evaporated," said Chen's older brother, Chen Guangfu, who lives in the village with several others in the Chen family. "I feel liberated."

Chen said by phone from New York that security measures should have been removed long ago.

"I feel that there is nothing to be happy about," said Chen. "Most importantly, (his nephew) Chen Kegui is still being detained and his lawyers still cannot see him."

Five people from Dongshigu and a nearby village corroborated the cleanup which occurred overnight at the weekend.

"I feel much relaxed now," said a villager who also gave only her surname, Liu. "No one is blocking roads and keeping watch on the village."

Liu expressed her puzzlement. "Why didn't they do it in broad daylight instead of removing the security at night?"

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