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发帖数: 4174 | 1 China to retry farmer given life for evading tolls
BEIJING – A Chinese court announced Friday it will retry a
farmer sentenced to life in prison for evading highway tolls after a massive
public outcry over his heavy punishment.
The court in central Henan province had sentenced Shi Jianfeng to life
imprisonment for fraud for avoiding highway tolls that added up to more than
3.68 million yuan ($560,000), the official Xinhua News Agency reported. He
was also fined 2 million yuan ($302,000).
Shi mounted fake military license plates on his two trucks so they could
avoid paying tolls more than 2,300 times between May 2008 and January 2009
when he ran a business transporting gravel. Military vehicles don't have to
pay highway tolls.
News of the verdict triggered an uproar among Chinese who argued in online
postings and commentaries that shorter sentences were given out for the more
serious crimes of rape or murder. The comments also strayed beyond Shi's
case to popular complaints that highway tolls are too high, especially for a
farmer.
The public outrage was so loud that the court held a news conference this
week to defend its decision.
On Friday, Liu Penghua, director of the political department of the
Pingdingshan Municipal Intermediate People's Court, said the court has
ordered a retrial, adding that the verdict may change because the defendant
has indicated he had accomplices, Xinhua said.
"Shi said during an inquiry Thursday night he was manipulated by a relative,
" it quoted Liu as saying.
One legal expert said the severity of the sentence in Shi's case came from
the fact that he faked military items, including uniforms.
"Based on the explanation, the court certainly can hand down such a sentence
," Qu Xinjiu, a law professor at China University of Political Sciences and
Law, was quoted as saying by the English-language Global Times newspaper
this week. | D**S
发帖数: 24887 | 2 This is a perfect example where this country is headed. It sends chills
along your back. |
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