Fiery Lawyer Puts China's Judiciary on Trial

On a December 5 flight from Beijing to Chongqing, flying first class, Li found himself sitting beside the Chongqing police chief. But the two men did not speak, leading Li to guess that he was already a wanted man.

A few days later, while Li was talking about the case with Kangda directors, he got a phone call from the judge handling the Gong case. He was told his client was emotionally unstable and wanted to meet the lawyer.

"Right away, I told my supervisor (at Kangda) that Chongqing was trapping me," Li later told reporters.

That night, Kangda officials held an urgent meeting and decided to pull out of the case. They notified the Ministry of Justice, the Beijing judiciary bureau and the Chongqing judge.

But it was too late. Five hours after sending the withdrawal notice, Chongqing police detained Li in Beijing during a meeting with Gong's wife to terminate the contract. Li was transferred to Chongqing, and a day later he was formally arrested.

On Trial

What Li did not know, however, was that he had been framed by his client. Court documents say Gong told Chongqing police December 10 that Li had asked him to withdraw testimony. Gong later told a television reporter that Li's enticement was conveyed through "winks."

Also testifying against Li were Gong's relatives, his assistant Ma Xiaojun, and local lawyer Wu Jiayou, who worked with him on the Gong case. The indictment said Li enticed Gong to fabricate the torture experience, asked Gong to give false testimony about his alleged organized crime ties, and asked Wu to bribe local police in exchange for false testimony about torturing Gong.
 
But none of the seven witnesses appeared at Li's trial. The judge said one was in a Beijing hospital while the rest were unwilling to appear in court. In fact, all six were either in local police protective custody or were being held for alleged crimes.

A procurator said the testimonies against Li were lawful, valid and effective. But Li and his lawyer, Gao, weren't convinced. Gao noted it is illegal for witnesses under police control not to appear in court. And it was a breach of duty for the procurator to use testimonies unlawfully obtained.

An expert from Southwest University of Political Science & Law who attended Li's trial told Caixin that procurators had nothing more than verbal evidence against him, and that the case's integrity was undermined by the fact that none of the witnesses appeared in court.

"I doubt whether the judge, if working with nothing but his own conscience, would have decided that Li was guilty," said the expert. "A better way to handle this would be to let witnesses testify in court. At least Gong should be here."

Gao sought a change of venue due to the involvement of Chongqing police and court officials. He also asked for Li's trial to wait until after Gong's, since a judgment on the torture charge was key to Li's case. Both requests were turned down.

Eight days later, the judge declared Li guilty on all counts.