ESWN translates a story from the China Youth Daily about the ongoing trials in the crackdown on corruption in Chongqing:
In late November, the series of cases involving organized crime figures entered into the judicial phase in Chongqing. Like many other citizens, the police officers themselves paid close attention to the hearings.
In Jiangbei District, the police noted that the suspected gang leader Gong Gangmo appeared seriously vexed and taciturn after he met with his defense lawyers including Li Zhuang. On December 4, after his third meeting with Li Zhuang, Gong Gangmo was especially troubled as he sat still all day refusing food and water.
The police spoke to him many times and asked him to face the court hearings with a proper frame of mind.
After much pondering, Gong Gangmo finally could not stand the pressure within himself and pressed the bell to summon the police: “I have something important to say!”
Gong Gangmo told the case investigators about the secret that has been tormenting him for days: His wife had just hired the lawyers Li Zhuang and Ma Xiaojun from the Kangda Law Firm in Beijing. During three meetings between Gong and the lawyers, Li Zhuang taught him five tricks to “overturn the case”: The first trick was to corroborate the false testimony of his wife so that he turned from “gang boss” to “victim” and “charitable citizen.” The second trick was to claim falsely to the court that his confession had been extracted by torture and therefore he was recanting his previous statements. The third trick was to provide false testimony to the court so that his case can be reversed. The fourth trick was for the lawyers to read to him the statements made by his co-defendants so that he would know what to say. The fifth trick was to disrupt the court proceedings by insisting on a medical examination of his injuries so that the trial had to be postponed until a later date.
Read also coverage from the Wall Street Journal‘s China Real Time blog.
