Labor-camp mother in appeal to higher court
By Li Qian |
May 1, 2013, Wednesday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
The mother of a girl who was raped and forced into prostitution has lodged an appeal with a higher court in central China's Hunan Province after losing a lawsuit against local authorities who put her in a labor camp for protesting at the sentences imposed on her daughter's captors.
Tang Hui was put into a labor camp in Yongzhou City on August 2 last year after campaigning for harsher punishments in front of local government buildings for the men found guilty of raping and prostituting her then 11-year-old daughter in 2006.
She was sentenced to 18 months, but released eight days later amid a public outcry.
Tang is asking the Hunan Provincial Higher People's Court to overturn an April 12 judgment by the Yongzhou Intermediate People's Court which rejected her demand for an apology from the local re-education through labor commission and 2,463.85 yuan (US399.5) compensation for the time spent in the labor camp.
Tang had filed a lawsuit on January 22 against the commission for infringing her personal freedom.
Her case was heard on January 28, with courtroom proceedings lasting one day. But on April 12, the court ruled against Tang.
Her lawyer Si Weijiang said Tang was "in extreme despair" and "didn't believe in the law anymore" after the court hearing. But she later said she would file an appeal.
In October 2006, Tang's daughter was kidnapped, raped and forced into prostitution over a three-month period. On June 5 last year, the Hunan Provincial Higher People's Court sentenced two of the defendants to death. Four others were given life sentences and one received a 15-year term.
Tang said police falsified evidence to reduce their sentences and started to petition outside government buildings. But she was later sent to the labor camp for "seriously disturbing social order and exerting a negative impact on society."
Tang's case has sparked public calls for reform of the labor camp system, which allows police to detain people for up to four years without an open trial.
The system was established in the 1950s, a time when the government was consolidating the newly founded people's republic. It is said to have played an important part in maintaining social stability, but its drawbacks have been revealed in recent years.
Chinese lawmakers backed reform of the controversial system at a national political and legal work conference in January.
It was "a disgrace to China's national image and required urgent reform," as it runs against the principles of lawful governance and justice which the country pursues, said Yang Weicheng, a deputy to the National People's Congress.
"The reform of the labor camp system is imminent and inescapable," said Deng Hui, an NPC deputy and law school dean from Jiangxi Province, according to Xinhua news agency.
Ma Huaide, vice president of the China University of Political Science and Law, said it is widely expected that Tang's case will become a landmark for such reform. "Although Tang lost the case, the public thinking it triggered will not stop," Ma said.
Tang Hui was put into a labor camp in Yongzhou City on August 2 last year after campaigning for harsher punishments in front of local government buildings for the men found guilty of raping and prostituting her then 11-year-old daughter in 2006.
She was sentenced to 18 months, but released eight days later amid a public outcry.
Tang is asking the Hunan Provincial Higher People's Court to overturn an April 12 judgment by the Yongzhou Intermediate People's Court which rejected her demand for an apology from the local re-education through labor commission and 2,463.85 yuan (US399.5) compensation for the time spent in the labor camp.
Tang had filed a lawsuit on January 22 against the commission for infringing her personal freedom.
Her case was heard on January 28, with courtroom proceedings lasting one day. But on April 12, the court ruled against Tang.
Her lawyer Si Weijiang said Tang was "in extreme despair" and "didn't believe in the law anymore" after the court hearing. But she later said she would file an appeal.
In October 2006, Tang's daughter was kidnapped, raped and forced into prostitution over a three-month period. On June 5 last year, the Hunan Provincial Higher People's Court sentenced two of the defendants to death. Four others were given life sentences and one received a 15-year term.
Tang said police falsified evidence to reduce their sentences and started to petition outside government buildings. But she was later sent to the labor camp for "seriously disturbing social order and exerting a negative impact on society."
Tang's case has sparked public calls for reform of the labor camp system, which allows police to detain people for up to four years without an open trial.
The system was established in the 1950s, a time when the government was consolidating the newly founded people's republic. It is said to have played an important part in maintaining social stability, but its drawbacks have been revealed in recent years.
Chinese lawmakers backed reform of the controversial system at a national political and legal work conference in January.
It was "a disgrace to China's national image and required urgent reform," as it runs against the principles of lawful governance and justice which the country pursues, said Yang Weicheng, a deputy to the National People's Congress.
"The reform of the labor camp system is imminent and inescapable," said Deng Hui, an NPC deputy and law school dean from Jiangxi Province, according to Xinhua news agency.
Ma Huaide, vice president of the China University of Political Science and Law, said it is widely expected that Tang's case will become a landmark for such reform. "Although Tang lost the case, the public thinking it triggered will not stop," Ma said.
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