Blind Chinese activist's brother sues police for barging into home

The eldest brother of blind Chinese activist Chen Guangcheng said on Wednesday he is suing the police and the local government that oversees his village in northeastern China for barging into his house unlawfully after his brothers escape.Chen Guangfu told Reuters he was suing them for scaling the walls of his home and for wrecking his home just after midnight on April 27, the day after they discovered Chen Guangcheng had escaped.Chen Guangfus lawsuit could renew international focus on Chinas human rights and legal system and galvanise lawyers and rights advocates to push for the rule of law in China.After breaking free from 19 months of harsh house imprisonment in April, Chen Guangcheng sought refuge in the U.S. embassy in Beijing, embarrassing the Chinese authorities and sparking a diplomatic crisis between Beijing and Washington. He is now studying law in New York.Chen Guangfu, 55, said by telephone from his village of Dongshigu he believed the actions by the police and the officials were illegal.Chinese courts rarely accept lawsuits filed by dissidents or their relatives, and when courts do they invariably find for the government, meaning Chen Guangfus case is almost certainly doomed to failure.