Andrew Browne of the Wall Street Journal writes that two officials connected to the Deng Yujiao case have been fired:
A government notice said a police investigation found that two officials, Huang Dezhi and Deng Guida, from a township investment office, accosted Ms. Deng [Yujiao] in the lounge of the Fantasy City bathhouse and demanded “special services,” a euphemism for sex. When she refused, they pushed her around and insulted her. Ms. Deng picked up a knife, stabbed Mr. Deng to death and injured Mr. Huang, according to the notice, issued on Sunday by the Badong county government in central Hubei province.
Ms. Deng then called a police emergency number using her mobile phone and gave herself up. She initially was arrested on suspicion of murder. However, the notice said police believed it was a case of “excessive self-defense.” Her lawyers have said she was defending herself from a rape attack.
Mr. Huang has been fired from his position as vice director of the investment office and expelled from the Communist Party. He is now under detention. A third official, Deng Zhongjia, who was with the other two at the time but is not alleged to have committed any crime, has also been fired, the notice said. The three Dengs are unrelated.
Roland Soong of ESWN comments on a related Xinhua report:
This is the only piece of news on Deng Yujiao that is allowed to be published. Comments are not being allowed. KDnet briefly ran a poll as to whether the outcome was satisfactory or not, but quickly killed it. Probably that is because the people are not satisfied. Why is that? First, Huang Dezhi is only “being detained in connection with public order offences” instead of “criminal offences such as attempted rape and sexual battery.” The latter are based upon lawyer Xia Lin’s public statement that Deng Yujiao told him that Huang Dezhi had pulled down her trousers, yanked down her panties and fondled her. However, Deng did not say that Huang “raped her.” It was an attempted rape and it was sexual battery. To write that “she claimed that Huang raped her” is to say that she lied. That is why people are not satisfied, but they have no where to express their misgivings.
The big question is, Will the prosecutor really dare to charge Deng Yujiao with “using excessive force”? Or will they just let this matter fade from public memory [but do] nothing?
Read also Ai Weiwei’s take on the penalty, translated by ChinaGeeks.
