Currently, the Yuanjiang City Court has established a Zhong Meiru case investigation and handling team. The Yuanjiang City Court also stated that it will negotiate with the parties involved and their representatives, suggesting the use of abnormal administrative or legal means for resolution.
The Yuanjiang City Court mentioned that similar cases to Zhong Meisheng's handled by the former Yuanjiang County People's Court resulted in hundreds of retrials. Delivery of the judgment documents should follow a unified procedure and steps. Due to the conditions and working methods at the time, as well as the long distance and inconvenient transportation (it required two ferry crossings just to travel from Yuanjiang County to BaiSha Township), most judgment documents were entrusted to the local township governments for delivery. Analysis suggests that due to human factors at the time (multiple transfers, mistakes by those entrusted), there is a possibility that the judgment document was lost.
According to retired judge Qin Yangchun (now 73 years old, served as the head of the Criminal Trial Division of Yuanjiang County People's Court in 1985), he recalled: Since 1979, nationwide efforts to overturn wrongful convictions from a specific era have been launched. At the time, Yuanjiang County established a policy implementation leadership group (composed of staff from relevant departments). Deputy Director Xu Huanzhang of Yuanjiang County People's Court (now deceased) served as the deputy leader of the group. After clearing and reviewing, over a thousand overturned cases were announced. Zhong Meisheng's case, declared innocent on December 18, 1985, was one of them.
Recently, the Yuanjiang City Court provided an explanation regarding the Zhong Meisheng incident.
Yuanjiang City Court: Does not exclude human error, an investigation team has been established.
Zhong Meisheng: According to the law, this matter has caused losses to our family and personally to me. Reputation fees, energy costs, whatever compensation is due must be compensated. As for apologies, I am old now; a belated apology is useless.
Beijing News: What are your thoughts on the amount of state compensation?
Zhong Meisheng: I have already applied for state compensation because the anger inside me needs to be released, but this is not something I can resolve individually; it requires national intervention.
Beijing News: What are your plans for the future?
Zhong Meisheng: I cannot accept it. If it was truly delivered, why didn't we sign? If it was lost, why didn't the court notice? Why did the judgment document remain untouched in the archives room for 25 years until my son and I found it?
Beijing News: On August 23, the Yuanjiang Court responded, stating that the loss of the judgment document might be due to human error. Can you accept this explanation?
Zhong Meisheng: I've searched many places hoping for an explanation, but they all passed the buck. However, I believe the court definitely bears responsibility and should provide me with an explanation.
Beijing News: Then what other efforts have you made?
Zhong Meisheng: I was shocked and never expected such a thing to happen. I immediately approached the court, where a vice president said they were unclear why it wasn’t delivered, as it wasn't his responsibility at the time. If it wasn't his responsibility, does that mean he doesn't know the situation? Aren't previous cases handed over to successors?
Beijing News: Why didn't you inquire about the responsible person earlier? Why didn't you receive the judgment document 25 years ago?
Zhong Meisheng: I spent 10 years in prison, knowing that was my sentence. But to prove my innocence, I waited without knowing when it would end. It was a difficult wait.
Beijing News: Was waiting 25 years for the judgment more painful than being in prison?
Zhong Meisheng: Both joy and sorrow flooded back after over 50 years. I entered prison at age 19 and served 10 years. I should have known 25 years ago that I was declared innocent. How many times do people live 50 years, how many times are they 19? When I saw the retrial verdict, I couldn't speak for over 10 minutes, tears streaming down my face.
Beijing News: What was your feeling when you saw the retrial verdict declaring you innocent?
Zhong Meisheng: Last year, my son and I went to the Yuanjiang Court to check the archives and found a 1985 criminal retrial verdict declaring me innocent. Only then did I realize that I had ceased to be a labor reform prisoner 25 years ago.
Beijing News: How did you find the retrial verdict?
Zhong Meisheng: Over the years, I submitted materials everywhere possible, from local to central authorities, including courts, the municipal people’s congress, and the letters and visits bureau. I also sought help from legal experts to find the original verdict.
Beijing News: What other efforts did you make to prove your innocence?
"I request compensation."
Zhong Meisheng: There's more than just this one case; there are too many incidents. The older I get, the harder it becomes. I need to clear my name; I can't die bearing false accusations.
Beijing News: Has this experience affected you deeply?
Zhong Meisheng: You don't understand. Rumors spread quickly in the village, affecting not only me but also my family. My older brother worked as a squadron leader on a farm in Jianli, Hubei. His superiors planned to promote him to field director. However, during the political review, they discovered that his father was a landlord and his younger brother a labor reform prisoner, thus ending his promotion.
Beijing News: Could this discrimination possibly be exaggerated on your part?
Zhong Meisheng: Over the years, walking on the road, I always felt someone pointing at my back saying I was a labor reform prisoner. Everything I did faced discrimination. After my release, I engaged in side businesses, catching fish in the river. People living by the river watched me, suspecting I might steal from their homes since I was a labor reform prisoner.
Beijing News: How were you discriminated against?
Zhong Meisheng: I was released on the Lantern Festival in 1971. My mother had already passed away. My father and I hugged each other and cried for a long time. Later, I got married and had children, wanting to live a good life, but it became impossible. Everyone discriminated against and bullied me.
Beijing News: How did you survive after your release?
Zhong Meisheng: Life in prison seemed easier than the hardest days in the countryside. I worked as a carpenter for seven years, achieving special merit twice, and later received numerous honors. Originally, these could offset my sentence, but someone disapproved, so I ended up serving the full 10 years and 27 days, counting every day.
Beijing News: What was life like for you in prison afterward?
Zhong Meisheng: What's the point of blaming her? Even if I blame her, I was in prison. How could I express it?
Beijing News: Do you blame her in your heart?
Zhong Meisheng: I feel nothing; our divorce was inevitable.
Beijing News: I heard you received a divorce agreement in prison. What was your feeling?
"Cannot die bearing false accusations"
Zhong Meisheng: Of course, I spoke up, but they tortured me, handcuffed me, asking if I would confess. They tightened the handcuffs when I refused.
Beijing News: Did you defend yourself during the interrogation?
Zhong Meisheng: Of course not. The 1985 criminal retrial verdict confirmed that it was a spontaneous act by the public during a difficult period.
Beijing News: Is that true?
Zhong Meisheng: At the time, it was determined that the theft of grain by 45 members was due to my actions, sentencing me to 10 years.
Beijing News: What was the verdict at the time?
Zhong Meisheng: They said I was the custodian and responsible, so they interrogated me at the commune cafeteria. The commune leader said our family was poor peasants, making it hard to sentence us, so they changed my father's status to "landlord."
Beijing News: How did they investigate you?
Zhong Meisheng: During the three-year natural disaster period, people were starving. 45 members used the opportunity to steal 1512 pounds of grain. The commune began investigating afterward.
Beijing News: How was the "transfer of grain" discovered?
Zhong Meisheng: I didn't take a single grain. Those who transported it with me could testify, but they feared getting involved. Now, even if I search, they wouldn't testify for me.
Beijing News: The 1985 criminal retrial verdict states that you received little and due to hardship, it should not be considered a crime. Did you actually receive any grain?
Zhong Meisheng: At the time, the captain told me what to do, and I followed without knowing the purpose of transferring the grain.
Beijing News: Didn't you know that transferring was stealing?
Zhong Meisheng: In 1960, I was a grassroots militia member and warehouse custodian in the brigade. Our production captain, surnamed Leng, asked me and another member to transfer several hundred pounds of grain and stack it elsewhere. Later, the commune accused me of participating in "collective grain theft."
Beijing News: Why did your brigade accuse you of stealing grain 50 years ago?
"No grain theft, sentenced to 10 years"
Zhong Meisheng: Once my youngest son gets married, I'll have no burden and can file another appeal. An incident in 2008 triggered me. I disputed a homestead with a neighbor for decades, a historical issue. A town official mediated and called me a convicted employee, which angered me. I realized everyone looked down on me, and I needed to prove my innocence.
Beijing News: Why did you appeal again later?
Zhong Meisheng: Yes, I found the rehabilitation office, and they asked me to wait, which turned into decades. Later, I got married and had six children who needed education and marriage, adding burdens and reducing my time to appeal actively.
Beijing News: Did you try anything after your release?
Zhong Meisheng: For 50 years, I haven't stopped appealing. From the moment I entered prison, I started writing materials, but every appeal led to criticism. In 1963, a squad leader reviewed my materials and believed in my innocence, supporting my appeal, yet it yielded no results.
Beijing News: Did you appeal continuously since entering prison in 1960?
Zhong Meisheng: I submitted it initially, but the court never responded. On August 2nd, I resubmitted it.
Beijing News: Why did you only apply for compensation recently after discovering the verdict last April?
"50 years of continuous appeals"
"If I had seen this verdict earlier, maybe my life would have been different. At least I wouldn't have been discriminated against or bullied." Said Zhong Meisheng, who is now 69 years old.
On April 12, 2010, Zhong Tian'an accompanied his father to the Yuanjiang City Court archives and discovered a 1985 criminal retrial verdict declaring Zhong Meisheng innocent. In 1960, he was sentenced to 10 years for "collective grain theft."
"My son sees him sighing daily; it's his heartache," said Zhong Tian'an, the youngest son of Zhong Meisheng.
Zhong Meisheng feels he has lived his whole life under the shadow of being a "labor reform prisoner." He described himself as strong-willed but losing out due to this identity in many aspects.
In 1960, Zhong Meisheng was sentenced to 10 years for "collective grain theft." Believing himself innocent, he appealed for over 50 years without success. In 2010, while checking archives at the Yuanjiang City Court, he unexpectedly discovered that he had been acquitted in 1985. Surprisingly, he felt both joy and anger for carrying the "labor reform prisoner" label for 25 extra years and subsequently requested state compensation.
On August 21st, Zhong Meisheng revisited the Yuanjiang City Court to inquire about his state compensation request.
■ Dialogue Thoughts
Zhong Meisheng, born in 1942, is a farmer from Yuanjiang, Hunan Province, who once served as the warehouse custodian of his brigade. Fifty years ago, he was involved in a collective grain theft case and sentenced to prison, living ever since under the shadow of being a "labor reform prisoner."