In the first instance, the prosecutor Dongsheng District Procuratorate claimed that Wu Baoquan fabricated facts, insulted and slandered the Ordos municipal government and its main leaders by posting on the Internet, and infringed his reputation. Wu should be investigated for criminal responsibility for libel. On June 65438+1October 65438+July 2008, the first-instance judgment declared the crime of libel established and sentenced him to one year's imprisonment. The court held that Wu openly fabricated facts and insulted others and the government by posting on the Internet without fully understanding the development of Kangbashi New District, which had a bad influence on individuals and regions and jeopardized the social development order of the region as an advanced urban area in the country. "The judgment of the Dongsheng District Court has created a new crime-the crime of defamation of the government." He Bing, a professor at China University of Political Science and Law, said that because people's cognition of government information cannot be complete, objective and fair, the law must tolerate people's wrong and unfair criticism of the government. The right of reputation in civil law is to protect the civil rights and interests of citizens and legal persons in civil activities, while the public management activities of the government are not civil activities, but government activities, which are not protected by the right of reputation. The government has no right of reputation at all, let alone "slandering the government". He Bing said that if citizens' criticism is wrong, they will be punished by law, and the clause "citizens have the right to make criticisms and suggestions" in the Constitution should be changed to "citizens have the right to make correct criticisms and suggestions".
Returned for retrial: the sentence was changed from one year to two years
"I want to appeal! ! ! "After getting the first-instance judgment, Wu Baoquan wrote angrily in his diary. On June 4, 2009, the Intermediate People's Court of Ordos City decided to send it back to the court of first instance for retrial, on the grounds that "the fact that the defendant Wu Baoquan was found guilty of libel in the original judgment was unclear". Wu Baoquan is full of hope. On February 19, the case was reopened in Dongsheng District Court. Compared with the first trial, neither the prosecution nor the defense presented more new evidence. On the same day, Wu Baoquan, who had been detained for 10 months, was released on bail, bathed and had a haircut. He thinks the day of acquittal is just around the corner.
The next morning 10, Wu Baoquan received a phone call from the court and asked him to go to the court to sign. As a result, he never came back and was detained for the third time. Wu Baoquan feels bad. On March 10, the retrial judgment was transferred to him: the crime of defamation was established and he was sentenced to two years in prison. This means that if he does not appeal, he will be released from prison soon after serving his sentence for nearly one year, but in March 2009, he must pay the price for his "refusal to accept the first-instance judgment". "Some lawyers said that this is a case in which netizens posted posts that constitute the highest sentence in China." Li Jiangtao, an online journalist who has been paying attention to the land expropriation in Ordos, wrote an article.
In the retrial judgment, there is no new accusation and evidence against Wu Baoquan, but the description of the consequences of the crime has changed from "endangering the social development order of the region as an advanced urban area in the country" to "seriously endangering the social development order of the region as an advanced urban area in the country".
Wu appealed again. On April 17, 2009, he learned that the Intermediate People's Court of Ordos City had ruled to uphold the original judgment. A prosecutor of Dongsheng District Procuratorate revealed that before the public prosecution, there was a meeting to discuss whether to prosecute. "At that time, at the meeting, we signed the book of innocence. Later, the leader said that this is a case in the city and we can't control it. " Liu Xiao, a lawyer of Beijing Qijian Law Firm, bluntly pointed out: "This is definitely revenge."