Xi Minze’s photo leaks spark unjust case, framed “main culprit” Niu Tengyu was tortured brutally

Niu Tengyu, born in 1999, was sentenced to 14 years in prison as a scapegoat after the personal information of Xi Jinping‘s daughter Xi Mingze and brother-in-law Deng Jiagui was leaked online. Friends of Niu Tengyu

After our report on the shocking case of Xi Jinping’s daughter’s personal information leaked on the Internet, there are signs that the authorities in Maoming, Guangdong Province, have begun to suppress the situation in order to prevent the truth from coming to light. A number of those sentenced are being brought to trial quickly and it is suspected that the authorities are planning a speedy second trial to dismiss appeals. Beijing human rights lawyer Huang Hanzhong met today with Niu Tengyu, the “main culprit” in the frame-up, who disclosed to his lawyer that he was subjected to inhumane torture during his secret detention in Foshan, Guangdong. He also wrote his own appeal to refute the joint frame-up by Maoming’s public security and judicial departments. The lawyer intends to sue the authorities for torture and other illegal acts during the investigation.

We reported earlier on a crackdown on Xi Jinping’s daughter Xi Mingze and brother-in-law Deng Jiagui after their personal information and photos were exposed on the Internet. According to Parents and sources close to the case, the Maonan Internet Police Brigade in Maoming, Guangdong Province, and the Maonan prosecutor’s office and court, which worked together to create the unjust case, are taking action to suppress the situation after the case became public.

The case unit and the judiciary allegedly threatened some appealing parents with increased sentences for their children if an appeal was filed.

The mother of Niu Tengyu, a 20-year-old former operator of “Vicious Viki” who was sentenced to 14 years in prison and designated as the “main culprit,” also learned from some sources that the Maoming court of second instance was speeding up the arraignment of those sentenced, and she was concerned that the court of second instance would hold a secret session and uphold the original sentence with a speedy trial. She was worried that the court of second instance would hold a secret hearing to uphold the original sentence with a quick trial.

The mother of Niu Tengyu said: they said that the matter is fast arraignment, that is, there are signs to quickly dismiss, not to hold a trial, the two days also whole arraignment Niu Tengyu. The child also wrote a letter to me saying: Mom, they want to speedy ruling on this matter, too contrary to the legal program, announced the results so quickly it arraigned us, said it just want to dismiss and uphold the original sentence. He sent a message to say: as soon as possible (appeal) it, mom. He also said he was particularly anxious about this, he said he had never cried, I was strong, but never thought they were so unreasonable.

Niu Tengyu’s mother also learned from some of the juveniles released from prison that Niu Tengyu was tortured during his incarceration, but he insisted on pleading not guilty; he cited legal provisions to refute the prosecutors and judges one by one, not ruling out that this was also the reason for the retaliation from the Maoming side.

Niu Tengyu’s mother said, “Niu Tengyu was beaten the most, and he never confessed to the crime from the beginning to the end. The children who came out said, Niu Tengyu he is a hero in our minds, directly confronted with the prosecutor, the judge, said they were speechless, that the law one by one to him, Niu Tengyu’s evidence refuted his speechless, they are obviously faking.

The “silent” lawyers in the case could not be reached for more details, but some lawyers quietly told parents earlier that the 21 lawyers representing the case were warned to shut up by the Maoming Judicial Bureau one day before the trial on Nov. 2 last year, and the officials said the case involved top leaders of the Chinese Communist Party.

Niu Tengyu’s mother said: (2019) November 2, the first trial (trial), November 1, they gathered all 21 defense lawyers to the Maoming Judicial Bureau to threaten, confiscated cell phones and all electronic devices, lecturing leaders playing the above banner said: you are not allowed to defend, this is involved in the leaders, justified or not can not speak, all shut up.

Niu Tengyu’s mother has now appointed Beijing human rights lawyer Huang Hanzhong and “709 arrests” lawyer Bao Longjun to represent her in the second trial appeal.

On Monday (Feb. 1), Huang Hanzhong rushed to Guangdong Maoming No. 1 Detention Center to meet with Niu Tengyu, and the meeting lasted more than two hours. Bao Longjun told us about Huang Hanzhong’s meeting with Niu Tengyu.

It is reported that Niu Tengyu is still in a good state of mind in the detention center, and he revealed to his lawyer that there are two units handling the case, namely the Guangdong Maoming Internet Police Brigade and the Foshan Public Security Bureau. During his detention in both places, Niu was subjected to torture to extract confessions, especially in Foshan, where he was assigned to a prison cell, where Yang Guangyao, the head of the Maoming Maonan Net Police Brigade, and another officer named Yang Yan instructed the public security officials to subject Niu to inhumane torture.

He said that when he was first arrested, he was tortured in Maoming, but then he was sent to Foshan, which was inhumane, and Yang Guangyao and Yang Yan followed him to Foshan, not knowing the names of the people who interrogated him and beat him. He said that he was regularly handcuffed with cotton or gauze, handcuffed and hung up, and that he was hung up for a day and beaten, so his hand injury was caused at that Time. About the torture, he wrote thousands of words about how he was tortured, how he was forced to confess to the crime and other details.

Bao Longjun also revealed that Niu Tengyu showed great resilience in the face of the framing imposed on him, and the chief of the Maonan Internet Police was so enraged that he was not allowed to meet with his lawyer during the entire case.

Yang Guangyao (left), head of the Guangdong Maoming Maonan Internet Police Brigade, which is the unit handling the personal information case of Xi Jinping’s daughter, was revealed to have tortured the arrested young man to extract a confession in order to win over his superiors and claim credit. (Maoming.com)

Also before the meeting with Huang Hanzhong, Niu Tengyu had written his own appeal brief of more than 4,000 words and handed it to his former lawyer.

The boy was also very tough, said Bao Longjun, and Yang Guangyao was very angry, saying, “Such a guilty plea, what lawyer, nonsense”; the whole investigation stage is very illegal, and did not notify the Family, did not see the lawyer, and even the place of detention do not know, are secretly detained. The appeal was written by him, and it took more than 4,000 words.

In addition, Bao Longjun also revealed that Huang Hanzhong went to the criminal division of the Maonan Court on Monday afternoon to request access to the file, the court was not in the unit for the reason that the judge handling the case to transfer the file was not successful, the lawyer will hand over the case file with the former lawyer, in preparation for the second trial.

We have called the Maonan Court and the Maonan Prosecutor’s Office several times, but we have not been able to get through.

The case was traced back to 2013, when “Vicious Viki” was established to create entries about public events in China, including searching for information about powerful parties in public events to post on the Internet. The founder of the site, Xiao Yanrui, then created “Chinawiki” to divert political content. “Together with another website called “Key Political Website,” the “Red Bank Foundation” has published information on top-level Chinese Communist Party officials and the Chinese authorities’ crackdown on Hong Kong and Xinjiang.

In the first half of 2019, the Red Bank Foundation and Chinawiki posted information about Xi Jinping’s daughter Xi Mingze under a pseudonym, photos, personal ID cards, and personal information about Xi Jinping’s brother-in-law Deng Jiagui on the Internet. In June of that year, the Chinese Communist Party set up a task force, and the Guangdong Maoming Maonan Internet Police Brigade was one of the units handling the case, but the managers and operators of the Red Bank Foundation and Chinavich were both overseas. The case unit arrested dozens of young people from the “Vulgar Viki” website and its members because of the friendship link between “Vulgar Viki” and “China Viki” and convicted 24 people at the end of last year. Among them, Niu Tengyu, the operator of “Vicious Viki”, was accused of being the “main culprit” and was sentenced to 14 years in prison.

The case was kept secret until recently, when Niu Tengyu’s mother and other parents cried foul for their children and Xiao Yanrui, the founder of Vulgar Viki and Chinaviki, came forward to testify against those convicted and was framed for the crime. The case is now attracting international attention.