Cops have to coin back public trust
To answer the questions raised by the public, judicial authority should provide necessary evidence that it was indeed Hu Bin who appeared in court on the fateful day, says an article in China Youth Daily. Excerpt:
Netizens have noticed that the person who appeared in court to face a trial for running over a pedestrian looked quite different from the Hu Bin arrested after the incident in Hangzhou. After carrying out their own probes, the netizens believe the person in court was not Hu Bin. Instead, it was a taxi driver, Zhang Lica, who was swapped for Hu Bin.
The Xihu district court in Hangzhou has denied that Hu Bin was swapped. The court said the bailiffs escorted Hu Bin from the detention center to the court, and hence it was impossible for anyone but the real accused to have appeared for the trial.
But the court explanation cannot guarantee a swap never took place earlier.
Generally, police take photographs of suspects and record their fingerprints before sending them to detention centers. And it is difficult for another person to have taken Hu Bin's place after he was sent to the detention center. So Hu Bin could have been replaced by someone else only before policeman reached the accident spot and detained him.
From this point of view, police who took charge of the case, rather than the court, should explain to the public what has actually happened.
Police should provide evidence such as witnesses and videotapes to the public to win back its trust. If necessary, it should identify Hu Bin through a DNA test.
The questions raised by netizens show the public doesn't fully distrust our judicial authorities. And it is high time the authorities took measures to restore their credibility.
(China Daily 07/31/2009 page9)
