3 suspended in life for tolls case
Source: Xinhua/Shanghai Daily |
January 17, 2011, Monday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
A JUDGE and two court officials have been suspended in an investigation into a life sentence given to a truck owner for evading highway tolls. The heavy punishment has triggered a public outcry.
The court in central China's Henan Province sentenced Shi Jianfeng to life in prison last Tuesday after finding him guilty of evading more than 3.68 million yuan (US$557,365) in tolls.
Fake military license plates were mounted on two trucks that transported sand and avoided tolls more than 2,300 times because military vehicles are exempt.
The president, deputy president, supervisor and chief judge of the Pingdingshan Municipal Intermediate People's Court are being questioned for failing to properly investigate Shi's case and handing down a sentence while lacking evidence.
The provincial higher court said yesterday that the four court officials were being investigated for what it called a "dubious verdict" on Shi.
While Guo Baozhen, the court president, received a warning from the higher court and stayed in his job, the other three were suspended from their posts for further investigation and training, Tian Liwen, vice president of Henan Provincial Higher Court, told reporters.
Tian said the intermediate court had failed to investigate Shi's case properly. The chief judge who heard Shi's case was directly responsible for the ruling.
The move came after Shi's younger brother, Shi Junfeng, turned himself in to police on Saturday and said his imprisoned brother had taken the blame for him. Shi Junfeng also told police he had offered bribes to officials after his brother's detention and was promised that he would be released soon.
He is now under investigation.
After a massive public outcry over the heavy sentence, the court announced a retrial last Friday, saying that the verdict might change because the defendant had told an inquiry that he had been manipulated by a relative.
Chinese Internet users argued in posts and commentaries that the penalty was excessive because shorter sentences were imposed for the more serious crimes of rape and murder.
The comments also strayed beyond Shi's case to complaints that highway tolls were too high.
The court in central China's Henan Province sentenced Shi Jianfeng to life in prison last Tuesday after finding him guilty of evading more than 3.68 million yuan (US$557,365) in tolls.
Fake military license plates were mounted on two trucks that transported sand and avoided tolls more than 2,300 times because military vehicles are exempt.
The president, deputy president, supervisor and chief judge of the Pingdingshan Municipal Intermediate People's Court are being questioned for failing to properly investigate Shi's case and handing down a sentence while lacking evidence.
The provincial higher court said yesterday that the four court officials were being investigated for what it called a "dubious verdict" on Shi.
While Guo Baozhen, the court president, received a warning from the higher court and stayed in his job, the other three were suspended from their posts for further investigation and training, Tian Liwen, vice president of Henan Provincial Higher Court, told reporters.
Tian said the intermediate court had failed to investigate Shi's case properly. The chief judge who heard Shi's case was directly responsible for the ruling.
The move came after Shi's younger brother, Shi Junfeng, turned himself in to police on Saturday and said his imprisoned brother had taken the blame for him. Shi Junfeng also told police he had offered bribes to officials after his brother's detention and was promised that he would be released soon.
He is now under investigation.
After a massive public outcry over the heavy sentence, the court announced a retrial last Friday, saying that the verdict might change because the defendant had told an inquiry that he had been manipulated by a relative.
Chinese Internet users argued in posts and commentaries that the penalty was excessive because shorter sentences were imposed for the more serious crimes of rape and murder.
The comments also strayed beyond Shi's case to complaints that highway tolls were too high.
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