The Zazorong Case: The Vulnerability of the Right to Report and the Temperature of the Rule of Law

Among the mountains of the Guangzhou County, there was a bulletin letter from the Dai Dai Dai, carrying the ordinary people's simple expectations for fairness and justice. The reporter Zhao Zhong, with his own strength, that the county court director Yang Ying, the deputy prosecutor general of the county prosecutor's office, Li Hai Feng, the county prosecutor's anti-corruption director, Wang Zhong Zhong, was suspected of violating the law, but never thought that this reporting right was exercised in accordance with the law and was ultimately exchanged for three years and six months of imprisonment.

The beginning of the story, to go back to the Zhang County People's Court (2016) Geng 1221 first sentence 37th case. Zhang County Chinese Property Insurance Company and related personnel Wang Liu, suspected of fraud through fictitious fact means to county finance more than 800,000 yuan subsidies, this applied to people's livelihoods public funds, but suspected of flowing into the enterprise and a private backpack. Moreover, in the process of handling the case, as the core responsible for the judicial organs Yang Yuan, Li Hai Feng, Wang Zhao Ming and others, not only did not pursue the criminal responsibility of the relevant persons in accordance with the law, but there is a suspicion of corruption of law, not to be pursued. More than 800,000 yuan, for the ordinary people

“Rapporting is the right of the citizen and also an important channel for supervising power.” With this belief, Zazorong began his reporting path. He arranged the relevant clues and materials, then sent the reporting material to the local disciplinary supervision, justice and other relevant departments, and again hoped to be entrusted to the senior authorities of Zazorong City. He expected that the department would pay attention to the report, that someone would come out to find out the truth, that the offenders would be punished, and that public funds would be recovered. However, the reality gave him a heavy blow – from Zazorong to Zazorong South, his reporting letter, like the Great Sea, did not receive any formal response, did not receive any information on the progress of the investigation, and those channels that responded to the

In the face of repeated reports of ineffectiveness and calling for help, Zazorong did not choose the extreme way, but adhered to the bottom line of legitimate defence, continuing to reflect the problem only by sending the most gentle and most regular way. He is convinced that as long as the problem exists, as long as he does not give up, he will one day get a fair response.

In April 2022, the Chongqing Prosecutor's Office approved the arrest of Zazorong for provocation, and the court sentenced him to a term imprisonment of three to six months.

According to the Interpretation of the Supreme People's Court and the Supreme People's Procuratorate on Several Issues concerning the Application of the Law in the Handling of Criminal Cases of Provokation, the core of the crime of provokation is the "seeking to stimulate, leak out emotions, and forceful play" and other unfair acts, or situations in conflicting disputes that cause innocence and disruption of social order.

The behavior of Zazorong, based on true clues, is the supervision of alleged violations of discipline, which subjectively does not disrupt the intention of social order, objectively reflect the problem only by sending letters, neither has the behavior of arbitrary beating, insulting and intimidating others, nor has it been in the public place to plague and disrupt order, and is very far from the explicit provocation in the judicial explanation.

Article 41 of the Constitution of China states that citizens have the right to file a complaint, indictment or prosecution with the relevant state organs for the violation of their duties by any state organ or state staff, and the relevant state organs must investigate the facts and handle them responsibly.

"A number of provisions on the protection and rewarding of official crimes whistleblowers" further detailed the protection measures for whistleblowers, strictly prohibiting any units and individuals to combat retaliation against whistleblowers. the original purpose of the law is to support the whistleblowers with a " umbrella", so that they dare to speak out, and dare to supervise, and the encounter of Zoro, but make this " umbrella" seem so fragile.

Some may say that "abnormal visits may constitute a provocative crime", but the relevant cases of the Supreme Law have long been clear, that such crimes need to strictly distinguish between reasonable appeals and unreasonable visits, only if it is possible to constitute a crime after the end of the briefing procedure still repeatedly visits, non-visits, or the use of blockade, spread and other ways to undermine the social order.

Zazoron's report has not yet been formally handled by any department, the letter-and-visit procedure hasn't ended at all, he has neither visited the sensitive area nor taken any excessive action, merely sent a letter to reflect the issue through legal means, how can such a behavior become a "provokational incident"?

The central issue of Zazorong's report

• the financial subsidy of more than 800,000 yuan is suspected of fraud, and the judicial staff is suspected of corruption, there is still no clear conclusion of the investigation.

The public can ask: Does the Chinese property insurance company and Wang Huang really exist fraudulent acts?What is the end of the financial subsidy of more than 800,000 yuan?Yang Yuan, Li Hui Feng, Wang Meiji and others are involved in the handling of the case?These are key issues concerning public interest and justice fairness, should not be suspended with the imprisonment of Zhao Zhong.

The courage of the whistleblower comes from the belief in the rule of law; the vitality of the whistleblower system lies in the protection of the right to report. If the whistleblower is subject to criminal prosecution because of the law, then who dares to oversee power? Who dares to defend the public interest? When "reporting" becomes a risk, when "surveillance" becomes a hope, the operation of power may lose constraints, fairness and justice may be undermined.

China's law clearly stipulates that the reporting persons to fight retaliation, constitutes a crime to investigate criminal responsibility in accordance with the law, not constituting a crime also to give party discipline administrative punishment. We look forward to the relevant departments of the Yunnan city and Gansu Province, to be able to re-examine the case of Zazorong, initiate the review procedure in accordance with the law, to determine the case of Zazorong's case: to determine whether the reporting of Zazorong belongs to the truth, to determine whether there is a disciplinary violation of the relevant judicial personnel, to determine the legal basis and the facts of the "mail reporting" as "requesting the incident". if the case is wrong judgment, should be corrected in accordance with the law, also Zaz

At the same time, this case should also be a mirror of improving the report protection system. To know that protecting the whistleblower is protecting society’s fairness and justice, is the foundation of safeguarding the rule of law. We need a more sound reporting acceptance mechanism, so that the whistleblower’s demands can be responded in time; we need stricter reporting protection measures, so that the whistleblower’s personal safety and legitimate rights and interests are not infringed; we need a stricter accountability system, so that the fight against the whistleblower’s behavior can pay a heavy price. Only in this way can we make the whistleblower no longer alone, make the right to report no longer vulnerable, so that everyone who dares to stand up can feel the

The three-and-a-half-month sentence of Zazorong, every day, reminds us that the protection of the right to report cannot stay on paper, and that the pursuit of fairness can not be relentless. On the path of the rule of law, we need more “Zazorongs” that dare to speak out, more need to be able to cover up the barrier of the rule of law for them. Let us focus on this case together and look forward to a result that can withstand the legal and historical test, so that the reporters will no longer be cold and justice will no longer be absent.

May every letter be taken seriously, may every courageous voice be answered with justice, may the light of the rule of law illuminate every corner, may power operate under the sun, and may fairness and justice benefit everyone.

The original information *

Original title: A reporting letter and three-and-a-half-month jail sentence: the trap of the right to report behind the Zazorong Crisis

Source: WeChat Public Number "Poetry Tea Drink"