China Esquire

I don’t know if you had been following the Yang Jia case (see Los Angeles Times article here) given that American politics has taken a front seat at many blogs (my posts on Joe Biden and Obama’s McCain ad; Experience Not Logic on the lame DNC China rhetoric; Silk Road International on Obama’s political pandering; and finally, CLB came out today with their survey)  But the case is interesting in that we’re seeing popular sentiment threaten court decisions and the secrecy of trials.  (in other words, the Chinese legal process being threatened by its own people)

Here are some excerpts:

An unemployed man charged with killing six Shanghai police officers in a knife attack was sentenced to death Monday, state media reported.

The Shanghai No. 2 People’s Intermediate Court found Yang Jia guilty of premeditated murder and ordered the death penalty for the Beijing man, said the official New China News Agency. On July 1, Yang stabbed a security guard at a police building in Shanghai’s Zhabei District, started a fire at the gate, then attacked nine officers inside the building with a knife.

In the wake of the stabbing attack, there has been an outpouring of comments online from citizens nationwide, as well as from Chinese media, questioning how a seemingly minor incident could trigger a rampage that left six people dead and four others injured.

Many Chinese raised suspicions that Yang was beaten by police, which Shanghai authorities denied. Police said Yang in fact had rented the bicycle, and that he demanded about $1,450 in compensation from authorities for mental anguish.

The legal proceedings and the secretive trial of Yang fanned more criticisms on Internet sites, some of which apparently were blocked or shut down Monday.

“If you and I were Yang Jia, we could be sentenced under such namely legal but unclear ways,” said one posting on a lawyer’s blog. Said another: “They have a guilty conscience, so all the websites closed the comment function for this news. This is red terror.”

Zou Rong, a professor at East China University of Politics and Law in Shanghai, said Chinese law allows some cases to be closed to the public. Nor did he see a problem with Yang’s lawyer being a consultant to the district government that is prosecuting the case.

“China is a country of law,” Zou said, “but it still is far from reaching the full construction of its legal system.”

A few comments.  First, I think its a good thing that Chinese law is being challenged on whether a case should be opened to the public.  It is true that in America, cases or particular pieces of a case can be sealed from the public/media.  But it isn’t that easy to pull off and there is usually vociferous argument from the media side whenever this happens.  So when it does happen, there is (hopefully) good reason to seal parts of a case.  One way the trial system can further develop is greater transparency…  and what better way than to have public sentiment fuel that transparency?

Second, I don’t think anyone can take Zou’s comments all that seriously.  It isn’t a country of law yet.  Rule of law is growing and I think everyone acknowledges that.  But it isn’t there yet.  Perhaps this ranks up there with Joe Biden’s rhetoric…

Third, even I see some huge conflict of interest issues with Yang’s lawyer consulting with the prosecutors.  In America, that would never fly.  No way.  Even if a judge were sleeping on the case, he or she would still catch that one.  That’s pretty far out in my book.  And if the court system wants an easy out of this dilemma, they will probably just re-try Yang Jia based on this conflict of interest reason.  At least, that’s what I would do if I were in their shoes.

Finally, I want to see how the courts will respond to public pressure.  Sure, there is some censorship happening.  But if the public in China continues to be outraged, I want to see how courts respond.  It’s no secret that the judicial branch can sometimes be influenced by the public and the media, so I want to see if the Chinese judiciary develops some sort of give and take with the public for the sake of social order.

Stay tuned.  This will prove interesting.

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