Wulateqian Banner, located in Bayannur City, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, suddenly became the focus of public opinion: a man named Wei Mingshuan was sentenced to four years in prison. Because of an error in the sentence date in the judgment, he served one year less and was r

Wulateqian Banner, located in Bayannur City, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, suddenly became the focus of public opinion: a man named Wei Mingshuan was sentenced to four years in prison. Because of an error in the sentence date in the judgment, he was released from prison after serving one year less. More than eight months after he was released from prison, he was detained again recently and was required to serve the remainder of his sentence.

"This kind of error is very rare." A person in the legal profession told China News Weekly. This incident was exposed by the media and public opinion was in an uproar.

On November 1, the court in question, the Urad Front Banner Court, issued a briefing stating that the reported start and end times of the sentence in the judgment were incorrectly written, which resulted in the parties being released early before the actual sentence was completed. This was true; the court immediately initiated the error correction process. The criminal ruling has been supplemented and corrected in accordance with the law, and the party concerned has been placed in prison to serve the remaining one-year sentence. In accordance with relevant regulations, the court has recorded major demerits to the person in charge of the case, and ordered inspections of the leaders in charge and the president of the court. On October 12, his wife Xi Meilian suddenly discovered that Wei Mingshuan was "missing".

The couple has two children. The daughter is 31 years old and married to Baotou. The son is 14 years old and is in the third grade of junior high school in Baotou. Xi Meilian recalled that on the evening of October 11, because his son encountered something at school, Wei Mingshuan said that he would go to the school to have a look. However, on October 12, his son could not wait until Wei Mingshuan. No one even answered Wei Mingshuan's phone number several times.

Wei Mingshuan was born in 1969 and is a native of Wulashan Town, Wulateqian Banner. In July 2022, he was sentenced to four years in prison for the crime of extortion and false litigation. He will be released from prison on January 19, 2024. After being released from prison, Wei Mingshuan first delivered glass to people, and later found a job watering trees in the Heiliuzi Industrial Park in Wulateqian Banner. He usually lived in a simple board house in the industrial park.

found that she could not contact her husband. On October 13, Xi Meilian and her daughter wanted to go to the industrial park to find someone together. Xi Meilian recalled that she had only been to the place where her husband worked once before and couldn't remember the way, so she decided to call the police first. When she arrived at the local police station, she received a call from the Wulateqian Banner Detention Center as soon as she made the call. The staff at the detention center told her that Wei Mingshuan was being held in the detention center "seemingly for extortion." Xi Meilian was surprised: "Hasn't he already finished his sentence (prison)?" The staff at the detention center said they were unclear, only that they were detained according to the procedures issued by the court. The staff at the detention center also told Xi Meilian that Wei Mingshuan asked him to send a message that he had some money in his mobile phone, which was now placed with Judge Shang Hongxia of the Urad Front Banner Court.

Shang Hongxia was the presiding judge when Wei Mingshuan was sentenced in 2022, and is currently the president of the Criminal Division of the Urad Front Banner Court. Xi Meilian found Shang Hongxia's phone number from the court. During the call, Xi Meilian asked Shang Hongxia: "I don't understand why he was released and then taken back." Shang Hongxia said: "Because the execution date was written wrong, he was on January 20, 2021 The day he was taken into custody was January 20, 2020. "

During this call, Shang Hongxia said that Wei Mingshuan had already served three years in prison. "Starting from yesterday, he will serve another year. Just punish him."

It is understood that the Urad Front Banner Court issued a criminal verdict "(2021) Nei 0823 Xingchu No. 119" on July 11, 2022. The judgment was 24 pages long. Wei Mingshuan was guilty of extortion and sentenced to three years in prison. , committed the crime of false litigation and was sentenced to two years in prison, and decided to execute the four-year prison sentence.

The judgment stated: “The sentence shall be calculated from the date of execution of the judgment. If the person is detained before the execution of the judgment, one day of detention shall be equivalent to one day of the sentence, that is, from January 20, 2020 to January 19, 2024.”

Similarly, according to the judgment, the date when Wei Mingshuan was criminally detained by the Wulateqian Banner Public Security Bureau on suspicion of committing false litigation was January 20, 2021.

The first instance verdict

Wei Mingshuan was guilty of extortion and false litigation, which was related to the expropriation of the Wei family's land.

On July 23, 2021, the Urad Front Banner Procuratorate accused Wei Mingshuan of three crimes: fraud, extortion, and false litigation, and filed a public prosecution in the Urad Front Banner Court.

It is understood that the public prosecution authority believes that in April 2010, Bayannaoer Rongxin Real Estate Development Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Rongxin Real Estate Company") levied a tax of 200 yuan per square meter on Wei Mingshuan, his mother, and his wife. On behalf of his family, Wei Mingshuan signed a "Land Acquisition Compensation Agreement" and a "Letter of Guarantee" with Rongxin Real Estate Company on a piece of land of 2,286.04 square meters located in Xigeliang, Xishanzui Town, Wulateqian Banner, and obtained the compensation. In February 2014, knowing that there was no compensation for the price difference, Wei Mingshuan filed a lawsuit in the Urad Qian Banner Court in the name of himself, his mother, and his two brothers, asking Ronsin Real Estate Company to fulfill its promise and pay the price per square meter. The price of 300 yuan per meter compensates for the land price difference of 2,286.04 square meters, which is 685,812 yuan.

During the course of the lawsuit, Wei Mingshuan, knowing that the letter of commitment might be false, provided the court with a stamp given by Hao Jun, a shareholder of Rongxin Real Estate Company (handled in a separate case), without the authorization and consent of Rongxin Real Estate Company. There is a letter of commitment with the seal of Rongxin Real Estate Company. The content of the letter of commitment is: "Our company expropriated 2286.04 square meters of land from Liang Weimingshuan's family in Xige at a cost of 200 yuan per square meter. Now that the land price will increase in the next year and a half, our company will pay more Wei Mingshuan made up for the difference.”

In July 2014, the Urad Front Banner Court rejected the lawsuit filed by Wei Mingshuan and others. After the first-instance ruling was made, Wei Mingshuan and others appealed to the Bayannur City Intermediate Court. After the Bayannaoer Intermediate People's Court accepted the case, a collegial panel was formed to hear the case, with Judge Chen Zhijie as the presiding judge and Li Xiu'e and Hao Yong (handling another case) as judges. During the trial of the case, Wei Mingshuan prepared 150,000 yuan and went to Wuyuan County with his friend Li Fujun (who was handling another case) to give the 150,000 yuan to Hao Yong, and Hao Yong gave 20,000 yuan of it to Hao Yong. Chen Zhijie and 30,000 yuan were given to Li Xiu'e. A few days later, Li Xiu'e returned the 30,000 yuan to Hao Yong. After the Bayannaoer Intermediate People's Court conducted mediation on Wei Mingshuan's appeal case, the two parties reached a mediation agreement, with Rongxin Real Estate Company paying a compensation of 457,298 yuan to Wei Mingshuan, and Wei Mingshuan withdrew the lawsuit.

When Wei Mingshuan and Li Fujun paid bribes to judge Hao Yong, Wei Mingshuan secretly recorded the bribery process with a voice recorder, and then handed the voice recorder to Hao Jun to collect the bribe money. After Wei Mingshuan received 457,298 yuan paid by Ronxin Real Estate Company, Hao Jun came forward to find Li Fujun, let him listen to the contents of the recorder, and threatened to report Li Fujun if he did not pay back the bribe. Li Fujun then called Hao Yong to inform him of the threat. A few days later, Li Fujun transferred the 150,000 yuan returned by Hao Yong to Wei Mingshuan's account.

After transferring 150,000 yuan to Wei Mingshuan's bank account, Li Fujun asked Hao Jun for a recording pen through his friend Wang Huiping. Hao Jun took out the recording pen and asked Wang Huiping to listen to a recording and then deleted the recording. After receiving 150,000 yuan, Hao Jun received 80,000 yuan, Wei Mingshuan received 60,000 yuan, and Wang Huiping received 10,000 yuan.

In July 2019, Wei Mingshuan knowingly knew that his parents had owned the property he owned jointly with his parents and brother in the former Xishanzui Town. On the premise that the land outside the government's western wall was sold to others and that Rongxin Real Estate Company had expropriated it and compensated it, he also wrote a civil complaint in the name of his brother Jin Shuan, named Rongxin Real Estate Company as the defendant, and sued Urad The Qianqi Court requested that the defendant be ordered to pay land compensation of 666,700 yuan. The Urad Front Banner Court made a ruling in May 2020: rejecting Wei Jinshuan’s prosecution.

In June 2020, Wei Mingshuan wrote a civil complaint in the name of him and his brother Jin Shuan on the grounds that the land outside the west wall of the original Xishanzui Town Government was expropriated, naming Rongxin Real Estate Company as the defendant, and sued Wula The Teqian Banner Court requested that the defendant be ordered to immediately return the land it had occupied, and the lawsuit filed by the Weiwei brothers was dismissed.

On July 11, 2022, the Urad Front Banner Court ruled that Wei Mingshuan was guilty of extortion and false litigation. The criminal facts of fraud charged by the public prosecution agency were insufficient and unsupported.

After the first instance verdict, Wei Mingshuan did not appeal.

The parties involved had known about it for a long time

Wei Mingshuan's family told "China News Weekly" that after the verdict, Wei Mingshuan was not sent to Baotou Prison until January 18, 2023 because of the new crown epidemic. Serve sentence. "China News Weekly" learned that while he was in custody at the Wulateqian Banner Detention Center, someone at the detention center knew about the error in Wei Mingshuan's verdict.

An insider who was detained at the Wulateqian Banner Detention Center at the same time as Wei Mingshuan told China News Weekly that while in the detention center, Wei Mingshuan had a fight with a "fellow warehouse" surnamed Zhao. "Tongcang" once reported the errors in Wei Mingshuan's judgment to the prosecutor stationed at the detention center. On November 3, a reporter from "China News Weekly" called the prosecutor, but the prosecutor hung up on the grounds that he "cannot hear the call clearly."

Informed sources told China News Weekly that someone else reported Wei Mingshuan to the Uradqian Banner Discipline Inspection and Supervision Commission regarding Wei Mingshuan’s release a year early. This person analyzed that the reason why Wei Mingshuan was re-detained may be related to the report.

According to many people familiar with the matter, Wei Mingshuan himself knew that an error had occurred after receiving the judgment. According to what he said after his release, while serving his sentence in Baotou Prison, he had handed the verdict to the prison for safekeeping. When he got the verdict before his release, he found that the last page of the verdict, which stated the start and end dates of his sentence, was missing. After Wei Mingshuan was released from prison, he consulted a former lawyer who had been detained in the detention center with him at the same time. On the advice of the former lawyer, Wei Mingshuan later went to the archives of the Urad Front Banner Court and obtained the complete judgment. . During the interview, the China News Weekly reporter called the warden of Baotou Prison several times, but he did not answer the call.

Wei Mingshuan was released from prison a year early. Regarding this matter, he kept a low profile. A person who was detained in the detention center at the same time as Wei Mingshuan received a call from Wei shortly after Wei Mingshuan was released from prison. The person was a little surprised at the time and asked why Wei Mingshuan was released. Wei Mingshuan said that he was released on medical parole.

Another “fellow cellmate” of Wei Mingshuan when he was in the detention center recalled that after Wei Mingshuan was released, they met once, “He also told me that he was sentenced to four years and served three years. You should pay attention, if you make a mistake for one year, you will not be imprisoned again in the future."

After the matter of Wei Mingshuanzhong’s detention was exposed by the media, it immediately caused a stir in the Urad Front Banner.

Informed sources told China News Weekly that on the afternoon of October 30, the Urad Front Banner Court was holding a meeting. The president received a phone call and immediately adjourned the meeting. "He is going to deal with the exposure of Wei Mingshuan's re-detention," the person said.

During the interview in Urad Front Banner, some parties involved kept the matter secret: "China News Weekly" called the judge Shang Hongxia many times, but she never answered; Wei Mingshuan's defender was in Urad Front Banner. A practicing lawyer, he also hasn’t answered the phone.

On October 31, Wang Rong, who served as a judge in the Wei Mingshuan case and is currently the deputy president of the Urad Front Banner Court, said in an interview with China News Weekly that the court had punished the relevant undertakers for violating disciplines. Punished. How to remedy

?

It is very rare for a client to be released from prison early and re-custody due to an error in the judgment. Sun Jianzhang, a lawyer at Beijing Jingshi Law Firm and deputy director of the Jingshi (National) Criminal Commission, told China News Weekly that legal documents are a concrete manifestation of the People's Court's exercise of judicial power on behalf of the country and are highly serious and authoritative. As a judge's maker of judgments, on the one hand, he should be rigorous and serious in his work. But on the other hand, judges are not gods and cannot be strict about not making mistakes in their work. Judges' mistakes in judgment documents are mainly manifested in two situations: clerical errors and errors. Among them, clerical errors can be corrected through adjudication, but errors can only be corrected through initiating retrial procedures.

Sun Jianzhang said that the "Criminal Procedure Law" does not have clear provisions on clerical errors. Only Article 473 of the Supreme People's Court's interpretation of the application of the "Criminal Procedure Law" stipulates that "if the original judgment or ruling confirms the name of the defendant, If the identity information is incorrect, but the facts are determined, the applicable law is correct, and the sentence is appropriate, the people's court that made the effective judgment or ruling may correct the relevant information through a ruling." If this provision is strictly followed, only if the identity information is incorrect can it be corrected through a ruling, and Wei Mingshuan's situation obviously does not fall into the category of incorrect identity information.

Sun Jianzhang believed that Wei Mingshuan had been released from prison and issued a release certificate before. From a legal point of view, Wei Mingshuan has completed his sentence and has become a legal citizen. At this time, it was discovered that the original judgment resulted in Shao Wei serving one year in prison due to an incorrect time recorded in the original judgment. The original court should conduct a retrial in accordance with the provisions of Article 472 (3) of the interpretation of the Supreme People's Court on the application of the Criminal Procedure Law. Verify the facts through a new trial, revoke the original judgment, and change the judgment in accordance with the law. There is obviously no factual and legal basis for the original court's ruling to send the released Wei Mingshuan back to jail without a retrial, because the date of Wei Mingshuan's detention as determined in the original judgment may also be wrong. Only through retrial can these facts be ascertained and corrected.

Published in the 1163rd issue of "China News Weekly" magazine on November 11, 2024

Magazine title: "Oolong" judgment controversy