Translation:People v Sun Xiaolong (2019)

Shenbei New Area People’s Court Shenyang, Liaoning, PR China

Criminal Judgement

[2019] Liao 0113 Xing Chu No 350

Prosecution Authority: the People’s Procuratorate of Shenbei New Area, Shenyang, Liaoning (the ‘Prosecution’).

The Defendant, Sun Xiaolong, male, born on 9 March 1988 in Dalian, Liaoning, Han Chinese, master’s degree, politically unaffiliated, a medical practitioner, resided in Shenbei New Area, Shenyang before apprehension (household registration located in Shahekou District, Dalian). The Defendant was apprehended for the present case on 14 January 2019, criminally detained on the next day by the Shenbei New Area Branch of Shenyang Public Security Bureau, and formally arrested by the aforementioned PSB Branch on 29 January 2019 upon the approval of the Prosecution. He is now detained in Shenbei New Area Detention Centre of Shenyang.

Defence counsel: Wang Shu, a lawyer with Liaoning Xunyu Law Firm.

On 29 July 2019, the Prosecution filed the present case with this Court by the Indictment [2019] Shenbeixinqu Jian Gongsu Xingsu No 330 against the Defendant for committing the crime of picking quarrels and provoking trouble. This Court then converted the applied procedure from summary to ordinary in compliance with the law, formed a collegial panel and held a public hearing of this case. Assigned by the Prosecution, Prosecutors Wang Jun and Li Jingxia appeared in court on behalf of the People to present the case. The Defendant and his defence counsel appeared before the court to attend the proceedings. The trial of the case has now been concluded.

The Court, upon trial of this case, ascertains that:

Between 13 January and 5 December 2018, the Defendant used his mobile phone to connect to the internet overseas and copiously disseminated false information that seriously undermined the national image and severely endangered the national interests on the foreign social media platform ‘Twitter’, which had created disturbances and obfuscated the truth, causing serious public disorder.

On 14 January 2019, the Defendant was apprehended by the public security organ.

The aforesaid facts were also not contested by the Defendant during the court hearing, substantiated by documentary evidence of ‘Resident Basic Information Form’, ‘Telecommunication Enquiry Log’, ‘Source of the Case’, ‘Course of Capturing’, ‘Work Log of Electronic Evidence Examination’, ‘Mobile Phone Screenshots of the Defendant’, and ‘Statement on Evaluation Application not Accepted’ issued by Liaoning University Expert Evidence Centre, with audiovisual materials, the ‘Confession of the Defendant’, and among other evidence, are sufficient to establish.

This Court holds that the Defendant had fabricated and disseminated a large volume of false information on an overseas social media platform that had seriously undermined the national image and severely endangered the national interests; his acts have constituted the crime of picking quarrels and provoking trouble. The facts and the name of the offence charged by the Prosecution are established and are thereby supported by this Court. Given that the Defendant truthfully confessed to the criminal facts upon apprehension, which can be marked as a circumstance of candid confession, a lighter punishment may be given to him at discretion. In accordance with Paragraph 1 of Article 293 of The Criminal Law of the People’s Republic of China, the Court hereby rules that:

The Defendant committed the crime of picking quarrels and provoking trouble and is sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of ten (10) months.

(The term of imprisonment shall be counted from the date of execution of the judgement. Where the Defendant is detained on remand prior to the execution of the judgement, one day of such detention shall be credited as one day of the sentence; thus, the term of the fixed-term imprisonment begins on 14 January 2019 and ends on 13 November 2019.)

If the Defendant refuses to accept the present judgement as final and binding, a petition for appeal may be submitted through this Court or directly to the Shenyang Intermediate People’s Court of Liaoning within ten (10) days commencing on the day following the day of receipt of this judgement. In case of a written appeal, one (1) original copy and one (1) duplicated copy of the petition shall be submitted.

The laws on which this judgement is relied:

The Criminal Law of the People’s Republic of China (excerpts)

Article 293

Whoever commits any of the following acts of causing disturbances, thus disrupting public order, shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not more than five years, criminal detention, or public surveillance:

(1) Beating another person at will and to a flagrant extent;

(2) Chasing, intercepting, or hurling insults to and threatening another person to a flagrant extent;

(3) Forcibly taking or demanding, wilfully damaging, destroying or occupying publicly-owned or privately-owned money or property to a serious extent; or

(4) Creating disturbances in a public place, thus causing serious disorder in the place.

Whoever musters others to repeatedly commit any act mentioned in the preceding paragraph, thus seriously undermining social order, shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not less than five years but not more than ten years and may be concurrently fined.