China executes trucker for running over Mongolian herder

China reportedly executed a truck driver for running over a Mongolian herder who had been protesting noise and pollution from coal trucks. The case had led to the biggest protests in Inner Mongolia in 20 years.

Mergen, the herder, had joined a group of Mongols to protest the trucks, which drive across the grasslands. He and his friends had attempted to prevent the truckers from driving through the area. Police said Li Lindong, the trucker, ran over Mergen on May 10 and then dragged his body for 145 meters before he died, the Associated Press reports.

Li was a Han Chinese, which make up over 90 percent of the country's population.

(Earlier from GlobalPost: In Mongolia, thousands catch the protest bug)

China's official Xinhua news agency reported that the trucker was executed August 18.

"His death and that of another Mongol in a clash with Chinese coal miners sparked protests across the sprawling northern pastureland by herders and students demanding justice and greater protection for Mongol culture and the nomadic herding lifestyle," AP states.

The Telegraph reports that the swiftness with which how the case was handled and the severity of the punishment reflects that China wanted to ease the public anger over the death. It also shows that China is fearful of the power its ethnic minorities could have if they used it against the communist party.

Li was sentenced in June. His co-driver was sentenced to life-imprisonment, and two other truckers who helped him escape were given three years in prison.