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Street vendor given death by court that favored city thugs
May 31, 2011, Tuesday
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LAID-OFF worker Xia Junfeng had to eke a living in Shenyang, Liaoning Province, as an itinerant street vendor, frequently subject to harassment and beatings by chengguan or "big hats," whose big-stick job is to patrol cities and purge them of unlicensed vendors.
One day during a beating, Xia struck back.
On May 9 he was sentenced to death for killing two chengguan.
Chengguan are notorious for treating vendors as nonpersons and crushing them the way cats catch mice.
In 2009, Xia had to play hide-and-seek with the big hats but was finally caught and beaten up.
In defense, Xia stabbed two big hats to death and wounded another. Now, Xia has been sentenced to death by local courts. The last sliver of hope rests with the death review procedure of the Supreme People's Court. Let's wait and see whether it will do Xia justice.
Two local courts grossly ignored due procedure by taking a lopsided view and siding with the chengguan. Six witnesses were denied a chance to testify on Xia's behalf about his circumstances and what they witnessed before Xia took up a weapon.
Now, without any substantial evidence, the courts decided that Xia had "intentionally" murdered two chengguan.
(Southern Metropolis Daily)
One day during a beating, Xia struck back.
On May 9 he was sentenced to death for killing two chengguan.
Chengguan are notorious for treating vendors as nonpersons and crushing them the way cats catch mice.
In 2009, Xia had to play hide-and-seek with the big hats but was finally caught and beaten up.
In defense, Xia stabbed two big hats to death and wounded another. Now, Xia has been sentenced to death by local courts. The last sliver of hope rests with the death review procedure of the Supreme People's Court. Let's wait and see whether it will do Xia justice.
Two local courts grossly ignored due procedure by taking a lopsided view and siding with the chengguan. Six witnesses were denied a chance to testify on Xia's behalf about his circumstances and what they witnessed before Xia took up a weapon.
Now, without any substantial evidence, the courts decided that Xia had "intentionally" murdered two chengguan.
(Southern Metropolis Daily)
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