Translation:People v Yu X-2 (2020)

Hongkou District People’s Court Shanghai, PR China

Criminal Judgement

[2020] Hu 0109 Xing Chu No 488

Prosecution Authority: the People’s Procuratorate of Hongkou District of Shanghai (the ‘Prosecution’).

The Defendant, Yu X-2, male, born on 16 March 1952, Han Chinese, household registration location in Hangzhou, Zhejiang, temporarily resides in the Hongkou District of this city.

On 3 August 2020, the Prosecution filed the present case with this Court by the Indictment [2020] Hu Hong Jian Yibu Xingsu No 1215 against the Defendant for committing the crime of picking quarrels and provoking trouble. This Court then applied the summary procedure in compliance with the law, appointed a single judge for the trial and adjudication, and held a public hearing of it. Assigned by the Prosecution, Prosecutor Duan X appeared in court on behalf of the People to present the case. The Defendant appeared before the court to attend the proceedings. The trial of the case has now been concluded.

The Prosecution alleges that, between July 2019 and April 2020, the Defendant used an application installed on his mobile phone, namely the ‘Bee App’, to ‘scale the wall’ and browse the overseas social platform Twitter; the Defendant registered an account on this platform with ‘andelie’ as his display name and ‘@wpt0fWGWjlsW1dx’ as the UID; he then posted over forty thousand (40,000) tweets, in which he copiously reposted and disseminated untrue remarks relating to our country’s efforts in combatting the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as tweets that defamed our country’s political system, major domestic events, and the state leader, which had seriously endangered national interests and social order.

On 14 April 2020, the Defendant was captured by public security officers at his temporary residence. Upon apprehension, the Defendant truthfully confessed to his criminal facts.

The aforesaid facts were not contested by the Defendant during the court hearing and are substantiated by testimony of witnesses from Yuan X, Yu X-1, and Ma X, documentary evidence of ‘Course of the Case’, ‘Search Record’, ‘Record of the Distrainment of Articles’, ‘Inventory of Distrained Articles’ issued by the Hongkou Branch of the Shanghai Public Security Bureau, as well as the ‘Identification Record’ of the Defendant on the screenshots of tweets and the ‘Forensic Evaluative Opinions’ issued by the Computer Forensics Institute of the Shanghai Honglian Network Technology Co, Ltd, therefore, are sufficient to establish.

This Court holds that the Defendant had copiously reposted and disseminated information on an overseas social platform with the full knowledge that such information was fabricated and false, which had created disturbances, leading to such untrue information being widespread and propagated in the cyberspace overseas, obfuscating the truth, and seriously endangering national interests and social order; his acts, therefore, have constituted the crime of picking quarrels and provoking trouble. The name of the offence charged by the Prosecution against the Defendant for committing the crime of picking quarrels and provoking trouble is established. Given that the Defendant truthfully confessed to his criminal facts upon apprehension, pleaded guilty and expressed willingness to accept punishments, a lighter punishment can be given according to law. Therefore, the sentencing recommendation made by the Prosecution is adopted by this Court. To uphold social governance order and protect the inviolability of the state system and such, in accordance with Item 4 of Paragraph 1 of Article 293, Paragraph 3 of Article 67, and Article 64 of The Criminal Law of the People’s Republic of China, as well as Article 15 of The Criminal Procedure Law of the People’s Republic of China, the Court hereby rules that:

I. The Defendant committed the crime of picking quarrels and provoking trouble and is sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of one (1) year;

(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, that is, the term of imprisonment begins on 14 April 2020 and ends on 13 April 2021.) and

II. The seized instrument of crime, one (1) mobile phone, is to be confiscated.

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 Shanghai No 2 Intermediate People’s Court 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 two (2) duplicated copies of the petition shall be submitted.

Appendix: Relevant legal provisions

I. 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:

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

Article 67 …

A criminal suspect who truthfully confesses to his crime may be given a lighter punishment even though there is no voluntary surrender, as mentioned in the preceding two paragraphs, and may be given a mitigated punishment if any especially serious consequence is avoided for his truthful confession.

Article 64 All money and property illegally obtained by a criminal shall be recovered, or compensation shall be ordered; the lawful property of the victim shall be returned without delay; contraband and articles of the criminal’s own property that are used in the commission of the crime shall be confiscated. All the confiscated articles and fines shall be turned over to the state treasury, and no-one may misappropriate or privately dispose of them.

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

Article 15 A criminal suspect or defendant who voluntarily and truthfully confesses a crime he has committed, admits the facts of the crime accused of, and is willing to accept corresponding punishment shall be allowed for leniency.