Jailed Chongqing lawyer confident of seeing his case overturned
Staff Reporter 2012-12-02 09:14
Li Zhuang after his meeting with Chongqing court officials on Nov. 29. (Photo/Xinhua)
Li Zhuang, a former lawyer who was jailed two years ago on the charge of fabricating evidence for his client, believes his appeal may be accepted by the court, reports Hong Kong's South China Morning Post.
Li is seen as a victim of the "strike the black" campaign launched against organized crime and corruption in the southwestern municipality of Chongqing by the now disgraced Bo Xilai. With Bo's downfall, it has emerged that many of Bo's targets may have been legitimate businesspeople and public servants, and that the former party secretary and his police chief Wang Lijun, now in jail for abusing his power, rode roughshod over legal and judicial procedure with their use of detentions, torture and executions.
The lawyer appeared optimistic after a meeting with officials from the Chongqing No 1 Intermediate People's Court on Thursday. "I'm almost 100% sure my case will be reversed sooner or later, particularly after the meeting. Once I am vindicated, I believe scores of officials from the police, prosecution and judiciary will be subject to punishment, which means the impact will be huge," he said.
Li lodged a complaint with the Supreme People's Procuratorate in Beijing last week over his prison sentence. He was found guilty in 2009 of encouraging his client Gong Gangmo, prosecuted during Bo's anti-mafia campaign, to lie about being mistreated in police custody and of fabricating evidence for Gong. Li served an 18-month prison in 2010 and was released in June last year.
More than 1,300 police officers who claim they were unfairly persecuted by Bo have also appealed for their cases to be reviewed, according to Guangzhou's Southern Metropolis Daily.
Bo was dismissed as Chongqing secretary in March and subsequently stripped of his senior positions and party membership. He has yet to stand trial but is expected to receive a hefty jail sentence. His wife Gu Kailai was given a suspended death sentence in August for the murder of British businessman Neil Heywood, which Bo may have had a hand in concealing.
