Residential Surveillance:I tremble when I think of that environment – Day 3 Briefing of the Dawu Trial

The trial in the Dawu case continued at 9:00 a.m. on July 17, 2021.

The morning is still the questioning procedure for the defendants suspected of gathering to storm the state organs, and the defense once again filed an application for exclusion of illegal evidence that was learned. At the same time, the defense formally submitted to the court a joint lawyer’s opinion requesting that the investigators of the Dawu case be held criminally responsible for using their authority to illegally detain the defendants and that the procuratorial authorities be held legally responsible for their failure to monitor the case. The “request to investigate the serious violations of the cruel finger residence. The afternoon entered the evidence cross-examination session of the charge, the defendant and the defense of the four interrogation transcripts cross-examination took about four hours.

Through the detailed questioning of the defendants this morning, the “life is worse than death” designated residence surveillance, as well as the so-called crime of gathering a crowd to storm state organs The details of the “facts of the crime” became clearer.

According to the defendant Jin Fengyu (deputy general manager of Dawu Group), during the period when he was under residential surveillance, he went to the Gaobeidian Public Security Bureau accompanied by investigators to apply for a notarization of the commission: to sell his legally owned house in Gaobeidian City. According to Article 75 of the Criminal Procedure Law, residential surveillance should be carried out at the suspect’s or defendant’s place of residence. If Jin Fengyu has a residence in Gaobeidian City, he should be placed under residential surveillance in that residence rather than in another designated residence. Jin Fengyu immediately said: If he had known about this rule, he would not have sold his house. Because there were no windows in the designated residential surveillance place, the lights were always on 24 hours a day, and it was impossible to distinguish between day and night; because the cameras were unobstructed and there was no privacy, he never took a shower during the five months and 10 days he lived in the designated residence.

Since the notarization of the sale of the residence was made at the Gaobeidian City Public Security Bureau, the investigating authorities of the Dawu case obviously knew that Jin Fengyu had a residence in Gaobeidian City, but still illegally designated other places for residential surveillance. For its defense based on the application for the exclusion of illegal evidence, Jin Fengyu expressed disagreement, although Zhang Weiyu lawyers have repeatedly stated: the application for the exclusion of illegal evidence, recusal applications, in accordance with the law, will not lead to court retaliation. Jin Fengyu still insisted: “Although I was tortured during the period of designated residential surveillance, but I have no complaints, only that the law provides that the finger residence for two days to offset the sentence of one day, it is too loss, too unworthy “.

And facing the charge of gathering a crowd to storm state organs, Jin Fengyu said: “I plead guilty but I am afraid of this charge, I received the indictment and saw this charge and was scared to death. Not only have I become a sinner of the state, but I have also become an enemy of the state. I think this crime is similar to the crime of treason, I think I can’t live in this land in the future, I can’t afford this crime”. Jin Feng Yu choked up and broke down and cried in court.

Yes, in addition to the fact that the objective facts differed greatly from the alleged facts, the crime of gathering people to storm state organs was enough to make these defendants, who had only wanted to petition for their rights and complain about their grievances, break down and despair. The questioning session makes more details were disclosed: at about 17:00 on August 4, 2020, the Dawu Group employees and Lang Wuzhuang villagers, a total of about dozens of people gathered in front of the Xushui District Public Security Bureau shouting, at this time the crowd was fan-shaped arrangement, from the entrance to the Public Security Bureau is still a distance, the scene of other people can be normal access, and did not impede the normal passage of vehicles. About ten minutes later, special police with shields and police weapons from behind encircled the shouting crowd, pushing the crowd forward to the entrance of the Public Security Bureau, the implementation of arrests, the crowd was quickly scattered by the impact.

Article 290 of China’s Criminal Law provides that the crime of gathering a crowd to storm a state organ requires that the work of the state organ cannot be carried out, resulting in serious damage, while the statements of the defendants who were questioned individually in court were able to corroborate each other, not only did they not cause legal damage, but they did not even produce orderly disorder, which does not constitute a crime at all.

After the end of the questioning of the defendants involved in the case, before entering the evidence session, Sun Dawu’s lawyer Wang Oath Hua to the courtroom questioning newly found Sun Dawu during the period of coercion, Jin Fengyu was illegally accused of living in the case, again to exclude illegal evidence application, requesting the exclusion of Sun Dawu and Jin Fengyu during the period of the formation of all interrogation transcripts, while again requesting access to synchronized audio and video recordings of interrogations. Sun Dawu’s other defense attorney Zhang Peng pointed out that the designated residence surveillance of Jin Fengyu is very obvious illegal detention, fully consistent with the judicial interpretation of the Criminal Procedure Law, Article 123 (3) of the exclusion of illegal evidence.

During the period of “torture” Jin Fengyu, apparently worried about leaving The impression of “bad attitude”, the court proposed: “during the finger residence I said are true “. This also became the reason for the panel to reject the defense’s application for exclusion after a 40-minute recess: “Jin Fengyu’s statements are consistent, and the panel has no objection to the legality of the evidence. “.

Such a rejection was obviously not convincing, and several defenders raised their hands to request to speak, and attorney Wang Oughwa also asked for a reconsideration of the rejection decision. The authenticity and legality of the defendant’s confession are two issues. Even if Jin Fengyu’s confession is true, the relevant transcripts should be excluded because of the illegal measure of designated residence surveillance.

The lawyer Wang Xiehua suggested: “I can’t use the evidence I applied to exclude to prove the legality of the interrogation, this way to prove the method is wrong. We are drafting a joint legal opinion of lawyers, requesting that the investigators be held criminally responsible for Jin Fengyu’s illegal detention and the legal responsibility of the procuratorial authorities for negligence. Investigators illegal finger residence has been suspected of illegal detention, illegal detention during all the transcripts produced, due to the illegal evidence collection procedures, so they are illegal”.

The presiding judge replied to this: “The next adjournment will be given to you to deal with”.

Then, the charge of gathering a crowd to storm the state organ went into the examination of evidence.

The public prosecutor first presented the defendant’s interrogation transcript and read out the “guilty” confession in summary, while the defense read out the part of the transcript in favor of the defendant during cross-examination.

For example, Sun Erwu (Sun Huahua) confessed that “Sun Dawu decided to go to the government and then to the Public Security Bureau, not more than half an hour, to hand over materials to the government” “to the government to make a statement”, which can prove that the defendant does not have the subjective intention to impact the state organs, the prosecutor read the interrogation transcript but this will be intentionally or unintentionally The prosecutor omitted this intentionally or unintentionally when reading the interrogation transcript.

In addition, a number of defenders expressed comprehensive views on the legality of the defendant’s confession, while questioning and suggesting the way the public prosecutor adduces evidence: first, China’s Criminal Procedure Law clearly stipulates that the burden of proof of the defendant’s guilt is on the people’s procuratorate, and now the defendant’s pre-court confession has become evidence of his own guilt, which disguisedly shifts the burden of proof to the defendant himself; second, the presentation of the defendant’s pre-court confession, but not the evidence of the defendant’s guilt. Third, the public prosecutor provided a list of evidence, including the August 4, 2020 Xushui District Public Security Bureau in front of the scene of the audio-visual information, if the audio-visual information is legal, unedited, compared to the subjective, processed verbal evidence, more intuitive, comprehensive and true reflection of the scene of the day The court can produce it first.

The court took a short break for thirty minutes because it was already 18:00 pm.

After the adjournment, on behalf of some of the defense attorneys, Wang submitted to the court the “request to pursue the investigators for Jin Fengyu use of authority to illegally detain the criminal responsibility and the legal responsibility of the procuratorial organs failure to monitor the lawyer’s opinion.

The trial continued at 18:35. The panel announced that the defense’s application for exclusion was again rejected.

The public prosecutor continued to show the interrogation transcript of Sun Sanwu (Sun Zhihua), Sun Sanwu himself proposed that most of the content is not true, to be subject to the confession in court. Other defendants have also pointed out that the transcripts contradict the objective facts, such as the names of participants recorded incorrectly, the number of people gathered incorrectly recorded, etc. Sun Sanwu raised his hand to make additional comments, explaining that the reason for the inaccuracy of the transcript is that he has long been unable to remember what happened on August 4, but the investigator told him: “Others have confessed, and you still do not say, you are guilty plus one “.

In response, Sun Dawu cross-examined, saying.

“Now it seems that it is also very difficult to make us into a wrongful death case. This charge is not established, very clear, we went to the district government, the district Public Security Bureau’s purpose is very clear, and we deliberately avoid the peak period, for fear of causing a bad impact. Now you come up with this kind of evidence, it is completely to get people a crime carried out by the framing; you come up with this kind of evidence, is despicable, is framing! “

The defendant Ji Wei-lian, who was also previously designated as a resident and suffers from severe depression, said she could understand the formation of false interrogation transcripts during the period of designated residence because – “Mr. Dawu said that the period of residential surveillance is worse than death. And for me to say, I think words are too pale to describe it. At the pre-trial conference, the lawyer offered to go to the place designated for residential surveillance for on-site exploration, and I really didn’t want to go because I trembled at the thought of that environment.

Sun Fushuo for Sun Dawu second son, he expressed his confusion to the court: “Dawu Group has a house in Gaobeidian, even if I supervise the Dawu wine industry, Dawu food, in Gaobeidian have offices, I just do not understand why these places can not be designated for the group’s employees to live under surveillance? “

And “life is worse than death” designated residential surveillance, the cruelty of the really can no longer be expressed in words, perhaps only Sun Dawu himself in court poetry, can be shallow at the time “I want to kill myself, but I can’t die even if I want to” the desperate situation.

“The sun, the moon and the stars are all gone, the day and the night are blindingly bright.

Six shifts of soldiers on double duty, tormenting, steaming and roasting.

Fate is unpredictable, the living corpse, forbidden to say anything and stare.

I think of the city of noon in silence. “

During the trial, Sun Dawu said: “I am sitting on the defendant’s bench today, who will be on the defendant’s bench in the future? It is you! “

Dawu case trial, continues tomorrow at 9:00.

The legal team of the Dawu case

July 17, 2021