Criminal Justice
The Beijing No. 2 Intermediate People's Court sentenced journalist Ching Cheong to five years' imprisonment and one year's deprivation of political rights on August 31 for spying for Taiwan, according to an August 31 Xinhua report (via the China Daily). The report cited a "document released by the court" as saying Ching "supplied information involving state secrets and intelligence he received from contacts in Beijing" to two people from a Taiwan foundation via fax and e-mail from May 2004 to April 2005. Ching was tried on August 15 behind closed doors in proceedings that lasted only a few hours.
The Intermediate People's Court in Cangzhou city, Hebei province, sentenced Internet essayist Guo Qizhen on October 9 to four years' imprisonment and three years' deprivation of political rights for "inciting subversion of state power," a crime under Article 105, Paragraph 2, of the Criminal Law, according to the court judgment (in Chinese, reprinted by Boxun).
Officials detained Wu Qinjing, a Catholic bishop in Shaanxi province whose episcopal consecration was not approved by the government, on September 11 in Zhouzhi city, according to September 14 reports by AsiaNews and the Union of Catholic Asian News (UCAN). The reports say that officials struck Wu and forced him into a vehicle. The bishop was released on September 16. On September 17, Wu was admitted to a hospital, where he was diagnosed with a concussion that observers suggested may have resulted from official mistreatment while in custody, according to September 20 reports by AsiaNews and UCAN.
Xinhua quoted Xiao Yang, President and Chief Justice of the SPC, as saying that the new amendment will "give the defendants in death sentence cases one more chance to have their opinions heard." Xiao explained that reclaiming the power of death penalty review from provincial-level high courts will allow the SPC to separate review and approval of a death sentence from the appeals process at the local level. Xinhua notes that the practice of allowing provincial-level high courts to handle both the appeal and the final review of a death sentence has generated increasing criticism "for causing miscarriages of justice." A September 30, 2005, Southern Daily editorial (in Chinese) pointed out that provincial-level high courts typically combine the appeals process with the review process, therefore making the review process meaningless.
The intermediate people's court in Linyi city, Shandong province, has vacated the trial court judgment and ordered a new trial in the criminal case of Chen Guangcheng, according to reports (in English and Chinese) by Radio Free Asia (RFA) on October 31. Chen Guangcheng is a self-trained legal advocate who drew international news media attention in 2005 to population planning abuses in Linyi. Li Jinsong, who previously led Chen's criminal defense team, will continue to represent Chen and will soon travel to Linyi for a meeting with his client, according to RFA's Chinese-language report.
The Supreme People's Court (SPC) and Supreme People's Procuratorate have jointly issued a judicial interpretation that establishes concrete guidelines for the handling of death penalty appeals (ershen, or "second instance" cases) by local courts and procuratorates, according to a September 25 Xinhua report (in Chinese). The Trial Provisions on Several Issues Regarding Court Hearing Procedures in Death Penalty Appeals Cases (Trial Provisions) were issued on September 21 and went into effect on September 25.
The Ministry of Public Security (MPS) has issued new Provisions on the Procedures for Handling Administrative Cases (2006 Provisions) to conform with and further clarify provisions under the Public Security Administration Punishment Law (PSAPL), according to a September 12 Q&A (in Chinese) posted on the MPS Web site. The 2006 Provisions went into effect on August 24, 2006, and replace earlier Provisions that were issued in 2003.
Supreme People's Court (SPC) President Xiao Yang and Vice President Cao Jianming on September 12 announced new restrictions on news media access to information regarding court cases, according to a September 12 Xinhua report and a September 13 Xinhua report. The policies include a requirement that news media obtain information from court spokespersons and not interview judges and other court officials without government permission, a requirement that courts must receive government approval to make announcements in sensitive cases, and a prohibition on a court's release of certain types of information, including "any other information that a court's leaders instruct should not be released," according to the September 13 Xinhua report.
Authorities from the Yinan County People's Court have postponed Chen Guangcheng's trial indefinitely, according to a July 19 Chinese Rights Defenders (CRD) report (in Chinese). Chen Guangcheng is a self-trained legal advocate who drew international news media attention to population planning abuses in Linyi city, Shandong province in 2005. Local authorities placed Chen under house arrest in September 2005 and arrested Chen on June 21, 2006.
The Yinan County People's Court in Linyi city, Shandong province, sentenced Chen Guangcheng to four years and three months in prison on August 24 for "intentional destruction of property" (a crime under Article 275 of the Criminal Law) and "gathering people to disturb traffic order" (a crime under Article 291 of the Criminal Law), according to an August 25 Xinhua report (reprinted in the China Daily). Chen Guangcheng is a self-trained legal advocate who drew international news media attention to population planning abuses in Linyi in 2005. Local authorities placed Chen under house arrest in September 2005 and arrested Chen on June 21, 2006.