A paramilitary officer looks at a screen showing the PLA troops who died in the June 2020 clashes in the Garhwan Valley in India and China, and were posthumously awarded the honorary title of “Heroes of the Border Guard” by the Central Military Commission in 2021, during an activity to educate students about national defense at Wuzhishan Primary School in Hainan province, China, Feb. 22, 2021.
In the newly revised Chinese Criminal Procedure Law, those who infringe on the honor and reputation of heroes and martyrs, or harm the public interest, shall be sentenced to up to three years in prison if the circumstances are serious, as implemented on March 1. According to some Chinese legal professionals, the new law covers a wide range of issues, making it difficult for the public to comment on any historical figure.
The new crime of “defaming martyrs” is now less severe than the five-year sentence for provoking trouble, but the punishment is broad. On Dec. 30 last year, China’s National People’s Congress voted to amend Article 35 of the Criminal Law to add a new article to Article 299 of the Criminal Law as one of the two hundred and ninety-nine articles: “If a person insults, defames or otherwise infringes upon the honor or reputation of a heroic martyr, or damages the public interest, and the circumstances are serious, he shall be sentenced to not more than three years’ imprisonment, detention or imprisonment. fixed-term imprisonment, detention, control or deprivation of political rights.” The above law took effect on March 1.
In the face of the increasing number of cases of “defamation of heroes and martyrs” in recent years, the authorities have mostly prosecuted for “provocation and nuisance,” but Chinese legal professionals believe that defamation or insult to others’ reputation is generally a private (civil) case, not a public prosecution case, and that the public authorities should not intervene. The lawsuit was originally filed on Tuesday (May 6). Beijing lawyer Liu Xiaoyuan said in an interview with Radio Free Asia on Tuesday (23): “This kind of posting on the Internet, said to be smear, defamation, libel and other provocative prosecution, now this law came out, it refers to defamation, defamation should generally belong to private prosecution cases, but they think the impact is significant or defamation of national leaders, they as public prosecution cases. “
Sudden increase in the number of defamation of martyrs new law covers a wide range
Between last Friday (Feb. 19) and this Monday (22), police in Beijing, Sichuan, Nanjing and Fujian arrested at least seven people for allegedly “insulting and defaming martyrs” on the Internet and are facing prosecution. Liu Xiaoyuan, who has represented defense lawyers in such cases, said: “The seven people we have seen arrested (for defaming heroes and martyrs), including those in administrative detention, are said to be provocative, and those in criminal detention are suspected of provocative crimes, so the coverage is very broad. As for the ‘seriousness of the circumstances’ according to legal interpretation, generally to cause the person concerned to commit suicide or mental breakdown and so on serious consequences, or he (the defamed) himself is no longer alive and so on, we now see that once a post is also possible to be caught.”
According to Beijing police, on Feb. 20, at 21:00 that day, netizen Chen Mouqiang, posted multiple insults in a WeChat group to defame the heroic officers and soldiers defending the country’s borders. At present, the person is suspected of provoking and provoking crime by the Haidian Public Security Bureau in accordance with the law criminal detention, the case is under further investigation. On the same day, Yang, a Sichuan netizen, made a comment in the comment section of Sina Weibo that denigrated and degraded the heroic officers and soldiers guarding the country’s borders. On the 21st Guangdong Maoming netizen Tianmou Lun, in the WeChat group published insulting and derogatory remarks about the heroes and soldiers of the border guard, was criminally detained by the Binhai New Area Branch of the Maoming City Public Security Bureau. On the same day, Hebei Qinhuangdao netizen Tang Moumo, in Sina City microblogging posted defamatory remarks about the heroic officers and soldiers of the border guard, was sentenced to 15 days of administrative detention.
Beijing lawyer Mo Shaoping told the station that after Amendment 11 to the Criminal Law takes effect, suspected defamers will be subject to multiple levels of legal responsibility: “Firstly, they will be subject to civil liability, in accordance with the provisions of the Civil Code, secondly, they may be subject to administrative liability, under the provisions of the Public Security Management Punishment Law, you will be subject to administrative detention, and thirdly, they will be involved in violating the criminal law, that is, under Amendment 11 to the Criminal Law 11, may constitute a criminal offense against the honor of martyrs.”
New provisions in China’s criminal law actually clamp down on speech
In an interview with the station, Jiangxi lawmaker Chen Gang said he also noticed that in the past few days, numerous netizens have been arrested for their comments, and the new criminal law provisions cover a wider range: “Perhaps more people will be arrested for defaming the so-called heroes and martyrs, I think to engage in such a thing (new provisions), he is also a way to clamp down, called the law clamp down on speech. It seems to have a legal basis, but in fact, the public’s discussion of the so-called martyrs is also part of the freedom of speech.”
Last Friday (19), Chinese media reported that five people were killed or injured in a deadly clash between Chinese and Indian soldiers last year, and that Nanjing netizen “Hot Pen Small Ball” (real name: Qiu Ziming), was accused of posting illegal comments on Sina Weibo that maliciously distorted the truth and denigrated the five heroic officers and soldiers defending the country’s borders, causing extremely bad social The case was brought to the attention of the court. He was detained for the crime of picking quarrels and provoking trouble.
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