Although the central government has banned the illegal detention of petitioners in Beijing, a man from Anhui province said in court on Wednesday that he was nevertheless illegally detained and tortured for 63 days.

Wang Weilong said he was "arrested" at Beijing South Railway Station on Sept 22, 2012, after he talked with the Supreme People's Court and sent to a "black jail" - a place used to detain people illegally - in the capital's village of Wanggezhuang.

"They began to hit me after my family posted information online," Wang told the Beijing News. "They beat me very hard with leather belts, fists and feet."

Wang was transferred 29 days later to another black jail in Hebei province. While there, Wang was buried in snow and burned with a hot iron. Wang was released after 34 days there.

The trial took place in Beijing's Daxing district on Wednesday. A defendant surnamed Xing and two others who are on the run were accused of illegally detaining petitioners from September to October 2012.

The prosecution suggested the court hand down light punishments because Xing was a minor in 2012 and has confessed his guilt.

The prosecution suggested a sentence of a year to 18 months in prison.

Xing was quoted by Beijing News as saying that he was hired to watch petitioners for about 2,000 yuan ($325) a month.

Xing also said he used to beat and burn petitioners with a hot iron.

"But I just followed others' orders," Xing said. "If I didn't beat them, someone else would have beaten me."

Xing said if they didn't have too many petitioners in custody, he would guard them himself. Two of his colleagues, Zhang Wei and Pang Taifeng, would help him if there were too many in custody, he said. Zhang and Pang also helped to "escort" some petitioners to other sites.

Wang asked for more than 2 million yuan in compensation from Xing's family. Another petitioner, Luo Zhenliang, asked for 200,000 yuan at the same trial.

Xing's father claimed they should not get so much money as Xing was not the principal defendant. Besides, Xing's family said they could afford only 3,000 yuan.

The court did not announce a verdict.

Wang and other petitioners from Anhui, Hunan and Fujian provinces told Beijing News that they were held in a black jail under the orders of Beijing offices of local governments.

Xing also confirmed this but claimed that he was not the one to contact those local governments' Beijing offices.

Su Zhou contributed to this story.

Contact the writer at suzhou@chinadaily.com.cn

(China Daily 08/15/2014 page4)