Yang Jia Executed WITHOUT FAIR TRIAL
Attorney Liu Xiaoyuan posted on his blog that Yang Jia’s mother had been notified by two Shanghai judges that the Supreme Court reviewed and approved Yang Jia be executed. According to China’s Criminal Procedure Law, the execution shall be committed within 7 days after Supreme Court [*] approval.
Yang Jia killed 6 police officers at Zhabei District police station in Shanghai on July 1, 2008. Then his trial was postponed in order not to damage the image of Beijing Olympics. He was sentenced to death in August through an close-door procedure, the police and the court both wanted to stay low-profile on this matter. Then his death sentence was confirmed in appeal in October and submitted to Supreme Court for review & approval.
Yang Jia was not given a fair trial. It was not thoroughly investigated whether Yang Jia was maltreated by the police previously (could be the cause of Yang’s revenge). The lawyer that Yang Jia’s father (Yang’s parents divorced) hired were denied, and the government appointed another lawyer that, according to the court, agreed by Yang Jia himself. Besides, Yang Jia’s mother had been held in a mental institution for 132 days by Beijing police.
In any case, it is almost certain that Yang Jia would definitely be sentenced to death, as daring to stabbing so many people is a felony, let alone Yang’s killing could be interpret as a symbol of challenging the government establishment through violence. That is why the court is so eager to execute Yang Jia without a fair trial.
* On the front page of Chinese Supreme Court’s website, the yellow characters read: “party cause first, interest of the people first, constitution and laws first”. So, constitution & laws don’t really come first, but the third.
PS: Amnesty International is calling to stop Yang Jia’s execution.
Updated on Nov 26: Yang Jia was executed this morning in Shanghai. China’s Supreme Court issued death penalty review on 21st, and was delayed & delivered yesterday evening. During this delay, the court hypocritically arranged that Yang’s mother meet with Yang Jia, when the news of death penalty approval was completely kept secret. How coward is the government! via Lao Hu Miao [中文] Such cowardice of government and execution without legal ground or due process will only turn more desperate people into murderers.
Just Don’t Ask, He Has to Die
Yes, YANG Jia (杨佳) has to die no matter what. His death had been decided the moment he dared to challenge the totalitarian authority by killing six police officers. Apart from the fact that he has to die, no one knows anything about the killing, the trial or any other information there might be.
The only thing we know is the government (court is a branch of government led by the same boss - the Party - as that of the police) treated the case and the trial as if no one had ever heard it at all.
As a routine, the Shanghai Second Intermediate People’s Court would publish all trial arrangements both on its website and on the billboard outside the court (as shown in the photo above). And this did work for YANG Jia’s case, which is only announced on the billboard to avoid public attention.
Despite all the effort to hide, on the afternoon of Sept 1, reporters from various media came to the court to hear the trial. All of them were driven out. No body knew what happened in the court apart from the death sentence.
Laohumiao, a blogger who has paid much attention to grassroots rights noted in his blog that on the afternoon of Sept 1 when the trial took place,
… visitors kept coming by to the 407# Building of Huizhongli Community in the neighborhood of Asian Games Village in Beijing, where Yang’s family live, expecting for something. For a time, these people just stopped and waited. … The old man repairing bicycles at 407# Building kept working. Noticing that I was coming, he said “He’s sentenced.” I answered, “Yes, sentenced.” And we both became silent. … I read the news online after I went home. I really don’t understand, and am annoyed. The only conclusion I come into is — the procedure is messed up.
The government cares more about “he has to die” than about truth and justice. The government only wants to ensure “he has to die” without any problem or any question. That’s why Yang Jia’s trial is delayed until the Olympics has ended to avoid attention from foreign media. That’s why any online discussion (blogs, forums) is forbidden.
