China's popular village chief arrested despite protests

China today formally arrested a chief of a village in south China's Guangdong Province for allegedly taking bribes, days after his detention triggered protests by all the villagers who backed him for resisting land grabs by a construction lobby.
The procuratorate of Lufeng City said that Lin Zulian, former head of Wukan village, has been arrested for taking a substantial amount in bribes from village livelihood and procurement projects since 2012.
"Lin admitted to accepting bribes in a video released by the procuratorate last month," state-run Xinhua news agency reported.
Home to 13,000 residents, Wukan was thrown into the international spotlight in 2011 when residents protested for months against the village committee's illegal land grabs, corruption and violations of financing and election rules.

Lin, 72, was elected head of the Wukan village committee in 2012, after protests over land grabs led to rare concessions from the Communist Party and the ousting of local leaders.
Lin was appointed the new CPC chief of the village after the event.
Days before his detention, Lin had posted an open letter online pledging to launch a mass protest to demand justice for illegal land sales and unauthorised construction on village land.
Villagers continued to hold protests over his detention saying he was "falsely implicated" for his efforts to resist land acquisition.