China jails lawyer accused of advising mafia defendant to lie

Beijing - A Chinese court sentenced a prominent lawyer to two and a half years in prison for giving false evidence on Friday, after a defendant in a major organized crime case accused the lawyer of having advised him to lie. The Jiangbei district court in Chongqing city found Li Zhuang guilty of "giving false evidence and inciting others to bear false witness," the official Xinhua news agency reported.

The sentence is the latest twist in the long-running saga of the trials of scores of people accused of organized crime in Chongqing.

Defendant Gong Gangmo, who is accused of leading one of the city's biggest gangs, initially claimed that he was tortured into confessing his crimes, but he later said Li had advised him to make that claim and to retract his confession.

Prosecutors reportedly said that during three visits to Gong at the Jiangbei detention center in November and December, Li urged him to "reverse his former confession and to fabricate an accusation of torture."

Beijing-based Li also incited local lawyer Wu Jiayou to bribe a police officer "in order to make the policeman to give false evidence of the fabricated allegation of torture against Gong," the agency quoted the prosecutors as saying.

Li's lawyer, Chen Youxi, said before the trial that Li would appeal if he was found guilty.

Chen said a guilty verdict against Li would "deal a heavy blow" to China's judicial system.

"Even fewer lawyers will want to represent alleged criminals. If they do, they won't work too hard," he was quoted as saying by the China Daily newspaper.

A group of lawyers had also petitioned judicial authorities to move Li's trial away from Jiangbei to a more neutral court, the newspaper said.

Gong's own trial began earlier this week on charges of leading a 34-member gang involved in murder, illegal firearms trafficking, racketeering and drug trafficking.

He could face the death penalty if convicted, although Chinese courts are often lenient if a defendant confesses and cooperates with police investigators.

In another unusual move, state broadcaster China Central Television was allowed to air an interview with Gong in which he accused Li of enticing him to lie.

"Li asked whether I had been tortured or beaten into confessing. He talked to me in a way that was full of intriguing words, winking to give me signals," Gong told the broadcaster.

Chongqing police have questioned more than 2,000 suspects during an eight-month crackdown on organized crime, including 67 alleged gang leaders and 50 government officials.

Police formally arrested more than 600 suspects, and local courts have already tried dozens of suspects, sentencing several of them to death.

Before the crackdown, Chongqing was reportedly one of China's biggest centers for weapons trafficking, while the gangs also controlled prostitution, gambling, drugs, entertainment and many local businesses, including one city bus company.

Much of the organized crime was committed under the "protective umbrellas" of corrupt local police and officials.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/302656,china-jails-lawyer-accused-of-advising-mafia-defendant-to-lie.html.