Society
Lawyer admits fabricating evidence
By Wang Jingqiong (China Daily)
Updated: 2010-02-03 07:11
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Li Zhuang, the former lawyer of alleged gang boss Gong Gangmo, admitted he fabricated evidence and interfered with witness testimonies to save his client in a court in southwest China's Chongqing municipality yesterday.
But Li's lawyer, Chen Youxi, continued his defense, saying Li "did not mean what he said" and only made the "ironic" confession because he was deeply disappointed with the judicial system, adding he would continue to fight to prove the tainted lawyer's innocence.
Last December, Gong, who is on trial for running a 34-member criminal gang, told a court that Li, his lawyer then, instructed him to fabricate evidence to prove police torture, leaving law practitioners across the country stunned.
A separate trial to hear Li's case was ordered immediately. Li was convicted and sentenced to two and a half years in prison on Jan 8, and a week later he appealed the verdict.
"The first trial was preceded with clear, sufficient facts and evidence. I withdraw my reasons for appeal," Li said yesterday morning, 10 minutes after the trial opened in the No 1 Intermediate People's Court.
Gong, who was present in court as a witness, said Li had instructed him to falsely claim police torture during interrogation but did not comply because he was "afraid that lying to the court could bring an aggravated sentence", and instead reported his lawyer.
Gong said Li gave him hints by "language and looks" to claim police strung him up to the ceiling of his cell for eight days during interrogation.
When Gao Zicheng, another lawyer defending Li, asked for evidence to prove Li actually said what Gong claims, the prosecutor said the meeting room where the two met was not equipped with video cameras.
No verdict was announced yesterday. The trial is expected to continue today.
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Li Zhuang, a Beijing lawyer, stands trial in court yesterday. [Photo/CFP] |
According to the court that convicted the accused in his first trial, Li had also directed another lawyer to bribe police and incited Gong's wife and employees to deliver false testimonies.
The case, connected with the massive crackdown on organized crimes in Chongqing, garnered huge publicity and fueled a heated debate over the rights and protection of lawyers who choose to defend the accused.
"Local media published elaborate reports detailing police investigation results before the trial began. That put much pressure on local judicial authorities", said Lu Changlin, director of procedural law from the Chongqing-based Southwest Politics and Law University.
According to many lawyers, Li's case is proof of the loopholes in the country's judicial system. Some 20 of them from all over the country wrote open letters to the central government pleading for Li's acquittal before the first trial.
"Coming down heavily on gangsters is justice, but it should not come at the cost of legal procedures of our judicial system," said Zhang Kai, a lawyer in Beijing.
But for several others, Li's case is a warning for other lawyers who may at times cross the line to win a case.
The country's Criminal Procedure Law Clause 306, which stipulates that lawyers can be jailed for fabricating evidence, was implemented in 1997.
So far, more than 500 lawyers have faced the charge, representing 80 percent of all criminal cases brought against attorneys, the Beijing-based Legal Daily reported.
