Li Zhuang to Stand Trial on Additional Charges on April 19

Economic Observer Online
Translated by Pang Lei
Apr 13, 2011
Original article: [Chinese]

The EO has received reports that the trial of Beijng lawyer Li Zhuang (李庄), on recently revealed additional charges, will be heard at Chongqing's Jiangbei District People's Court on April 19.

Li was originally sentenced to 30 months in prison on charges of falsifying evidence and inciting others to bear false witness on January 8, 2010, but his sentence was reduced to 18 months by the Chongqing No.1 Intermediate People's Court on appeal in February that year.

According to a relative of Li Zhuang, the decision of who shall act as Li Zhuang's defense lawyer is yet to be resolved.

The two lawyers who represented Li in the original trial and subsequent appeal, Gao Zicheng (高子程) and Chen Youxi (陈有西), perhaps won't continue to serve on Li Zhuang's defense team.

The EO was unable to confirm whether the Jiangbei People's Court was once again going to assign Fu Mingjian (付鸣剑) as the presiding judge and Huang Lian (黄炼) and others as judges for the hearing of these additional charges as they did for Li Zhuang's earlier trial.

According to an official copy of the indictment against Li Zhuang obtained by the EO, the case will focus on accusations that in July of 2008, while serving as defense counsel for an individual named Meng Ying (孟英) who was being tried on charges of suspected embezzlement by the Xuhui District People's procuratorate, Li incited a witness to alter his testimony so that it was no longer in keeping with the facts of the matter. 

The Jiangbei District People's procuratorate believes that, in order to help Meng Ying escape prosecution, Li Zhuang, in the name of helping a witness reclaim investments, persuaded an individual named Xu Lijun (徐丽军) to alter his testimony so that it was no longer in keeping with the objective facts.

Funds that the witness had invested in a company called Jintang Cheng (金汤城公司) were transferred so that they became a personal loan lent to Meng Ying.

Despite the fact that Chongqing prosecutors had earlier raised the prospect of Li being charged on two counts, there is only one charge included in the two-page indictment.

Earlier accusations of fraud do not appear in the document.

As mentioned above, the defense team is yet to be announced.

Li Zhuang's case has attraced much attention from China's legal community as it highlighted concerns among some lawyers that the Chongqing government was trampling legal procedure in its zeal for convictions as part of a crackdown on criminal gangs, others have also reported that the case involves high-level political figures.

Links and Sources
The Economic Observer: 李庄漏罪案4月19日开庭 以辩护人妨害作证罪被起诉 (Chinese)
The Economic Observer: Controversy Over Jurisdiction Emerges in Chongqing's Pursuit of Beijing Lawyer