On December 25, it was reported online that at the trial of a criminal case in the Xilinhot City Court of Inner Mongolia, several lawyers attending the hearing were suspected of being subjected to “violent law enforcement” such as being sprayed with pepper spray by court police, which sparked widespread concern.
At around 10 a.m. on the 25th, the author contacted two injured lawyers attending the hearing. According to their account, around 9 a.m. this morning, due to issues such as court security checks and carrying electronic devices, the lawyers attending the hearing had a discussion with the court police of Xilinhot City Court. Subsequently, a lawyer on the scene took photos for evidence, but his mobile phone was snatched by the court police. During this period, the court police took measures such as spraying pepper spray on four lawyers attending the hearing.
Li Pu (pseudonym), a lawyer attending the hearing, said that he traveled from out of town to Xilinhot to attend the hearing of a controversial criminal case in the Xilinhot City Court. “Today, the court arranged two channels, one for lawyers and one for the public. Both channels require security checks. Initially, the court police required all lawyers to undergo security checks, which was rejected by the defendant. Later, the presiding judge came down to communicate, and the lawyers were allowed to enter the courtroom.”
When Li Pu and other lawyers attending the hearing tried to enter the court, they were told by the court police, “All attendees must store their bags and mobile phones and are not allowed to bring any (electronic) items into the courtroom.”
The lawyers attending the hearing asked the court police to show relevant evidence. “A leader of the court police team came and said that according to their regulations, lawyers also have to undergo security checks and are not allowed to carry bags or mobile phones. A lawyer requested the provision of written documents, but the other party refused.”
Li Pu said that the lawyers attending the hearing at the scene then used their mobile phones to take photos for evidence, and then several court police snatched their mobile phones. “Lawyer Wang and I were about to stop the illegal behavior of the court police, and we were also surrounded by the court police. After that, the four of us (lawyers attending the hearing) were kicked out of the security check hall by the court police.”
During this period, four lawyers, including Li Pu, were sprayed with pepper spray by the court police of the Xilinhot City Court. “Three lawyers were the most seriously affected, with both eyes (sprayed with pepper spray). Also, two lawyers’ mobile phones were snatched.”
Lan Quan (pseudonym), a Beijing lawyer, was also one of the people who were sprayed with pepper spray. She said, “The entire incident (spraying pepper spray) happened very suddenly.”
“We were discussing with the court police whether we could bring electronic products.” Subsequently, Lan Quan was driven away by the court police and was sprayed with pepper spray several times during the process. “I should have been sprayed with a lot of pepper spray. I couldn’t open my eyes at the time, and I was in extreme pain, a feeling of despair. Now my entire scalp, neck, and wrists, all the skin exposed outside, are very painful.”
Lan Quan and Li Pu said that after the incident, they had reported the violent law enforcement of the court police of the Xilinhot City Court against the lawyers attending the hearing to the police. The Xiritala Police Station of Xilinhot City had already handled the case. “After the 110 police arrived, they first sent the lawyers to the hospital for treatment, and now they are going to the police station to make a statement.”
According to a video circulating online, another lawyer attending the hearing, Wang, said that when he questioned the legitimacy of the court police’s law enforcement behavior, he was sprayed with pepper spray. “When I went to see the police number, the court police just waved his hand and said, let you see the police number, and then sprayed pepper spray on my face, and I couldn’t open my eyes.”
In response, the author called the Xilinhot City Court to inquire about the matter. A staff member on duty at the court’s duty room said that they were not yet clear about the matter, and because the relevant criminal case was being tried, they were not able to disclose more information. However, they said that according to relevant regulations, lawyers do not need to undergo security checks when entering the court, “exempt from inspection.”
In judicial practice, when a court publicly hears a criminal case, it generally allows attendees to bring mobile phones and other electronic devices into the courtroom. Relevant laws in our country have not made any prohibitive provisions on this. The Supreme People’s Court stated in the “Notice on Further Standardizing Court Trial Order and Safeguarding Litigation Rights”: “For electronic devices such as mobile phones and computers, it is generally allowed to bring them into the courtroom, but it is only limited to the use of auxiliary litigation matters such as recording, legal regulations inquiry, and evidence presentation, and it is required that the parties and other litigation participants and attendees turn off the sound of their mobile phones and other devices and not turn on the recording and video recording functions. For major sensitive cases and cases that are not publicly tried according to law, the people’s court should prohibit the carrying of electronic devices into the courtroom, take necessary technical measures such as shielding network signals to prevent the information of the trial activities from being improperly disseminated, and if it is indeed necessary to use them, it needs to be approved by the people’s court.”
It is reported that the above-mentioned criminal case is the “Xueli Planet case” that has attracted much attention before. According to a report by Xin Huanghe, in February 2023, police officers from the Alshen Branch of the Xilingol League Public Security Bureau of Inner Mongolia arrested some employees of Beijing Xueli Planet Technology Co., Ltd. (referred to as “Xueli Planet”) in Beijing on the grounds that the operation of Xueli Planet was suspected of organizing and leading pyramid schemes. From May 20 to 24 this year, the case of Ren, the actual controller of Xueli Planet, and several employees suspected of organizing and leading pyramid schemes was first tried in the Xilinhot City Court of Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, and then the second trial was held on June 12.
On December 25, the third trial of the case was held.
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