Recommended article: Project Background Analysis | Who is the stumbling block for the rural car program | Recommended to beauty: The verdict that once sentenced Mo Weiqi to death. In 2008, Xiong Zhengjiang was escorted back to Yunnan. Mo Weiqi cried bitterly with his family.
Sentenced for carrying jade which was found to contain drugs, and eventually released after being sentenced to death twice - The life-and-death ordeal of a jade porter - Special correspondent for The World People's Magazine Guyue
For an ordinary person, 15 months may just be "a fleeting moment," but for Mo Weiqi, it became an unbearable 451 days of brushing shoulders with death. In April 2008, the straightforward Mo Weiqi and his companion Xie Kaiqi helped someone deliver jade to Yunnan and were caught at the airport security check for carrying drugs. Although both repeatedly claimed they were unaware of this fact, they were still sentenced to death for transporting drugs. Later, under the urging of many legal professionals, the case attracted nationwide attention. After repeated trials, on July 17, 2009, the two were finally acquitted. Four months later, each received state compensation. From the death sentence to state compensation, the overturning of this wrongful case will undoubtedly become a benchmark case in China's legal history for the principle of "presumption of innocence."
How did a "death row inmate" eventually become a compensated victim? What unknown experiences did he encounter? Recently, Mo Weiqi told the reporter the story behind it.
The jade "transformed" into heroin.
Mo Weiqi is from Xiangtan, Hunan Province. He is over 50 years old and has never left the province. In 2004, after the first automobile repair company in Xiangtan was restructured, he and his wife Wu Xiaoyu were both laid off. They barely maintained their livelihood through government welfare benefits, running a mahjong parlor, and doing odd jobs. A year ago, he still had black hair and was full of energy, but now his hair is all white, and his gaze is somewhat vacant. After returning home, his health has been poor, "my eyesight is bad, my waist hurts, and my throat isn't good..." When he met the reporter, he had just returned home after receiving intravenous therapy at a hospital in Xiangtan. Since their old house had been sold at a low price, he and his wife could only live in a two-bedroom apartment of about 70 square meters at his younger brother's place, laying down a mat in the living room as a bed.
"I really thought he was asking me to work, so I didn't have any guard up." Mo Weiqi said that one day in April 2008, "Mr. Xiong", who rented nearby and dressed in a suit, came to the mahjong parlor and proposed hiring him to deliver jade samples to Yunnan. Not only would all travel and accommodation expenses be covered, but if he could return within ten days, he would receive a reward of 1000 yuan, and every extra day would be paid at 100 yuan per day. Mo Weiqi was very pleased upon hearing this and immediately agreed. Soon after, Mo Weiqi went to Yunnan with his fellow townsman Xie Kaiqi and "Mr. Xiong" by train. "If I had known it was transporting drugs, I wouldn't have let my husband go, even if you beat me to death," Wu Xiaoyu still feels regretful today.
On the evening of April 16, the three arrived in Ruili, Yunnan, where they were greeted by a man named "Brother Hua". Over the next four days, "Brother Hua" used Mo and Xie's ID cards to register them in several hostels. During the day, Mo Weiqi and Xie Kaiqi either wandered around the streets and alleys of Ruili or stayed in the hotel watching TV until "Brother Hua" and "Mr. Xiong" called them to eat together.
At 9:00 AM on the 23rd, "Brother Hua" handed a black suitcase containing jade samples to Mo Weiqi in the hotel and took out the jade for him to inspect on the spot. Immediately afterward, Mo Weiqi prepared to take the plane booked by "Brother Hua" and fly to Kunming at 10:00 PM. However, when passing through the airport security check, the security personnel found 1027 grams of white powder in the suitcase compartment.
"The bag and jade were given to me by the boss," Mo Weiqi defended himself with a hoarse voice, but no one cared. Having never seen what drugs looked like in his life, he consoled himself: This might just be milk powder. Anxiously, Mo Weiqi hoped that the test results would clear his name. However, a week later, the test results showed: The white powder was indeed heroin. According to relevant national regulations, trafficking such a quantity of drugs would undoubtedly result in the death penalty.
On the 27th, Wu Xiaoyu received a call from a lawyer in Dehong Dai and Jingpo Autonomous Prefecture, Yunnan Province: "Mo Weiqi is suspected of carrying drugs and has been arrested..." Her first reaction was to ask "Mr. Xiong" what happened, "Isn't it just transporting jade?" But "Mr. Xiong" and his family had already disappeared without a trace. "It's obvious that 'Mr. Xiong' deceived our Mo," she realized.
To rescue him, the whole family mobilized.
A detention center in a county-level city under the jurisdiction of Dehong Prefecture, Yunnan, was where Mo Weiqi was detained. He lived in a small room less than 30 square meters with more than ten cellmates. The corner toilet emitted a foul smell, and the short "dormitory" was abnormally damp, making it impossible to sleep. Such a life almost drove Mo Weiqi to collapse. His only hope was that his family far away in Hunan could assist local authorities in uncovering the truth and save him. However, the only clue he could provide to the Yunnan police was "Mr. Xiong," whose identity was unclear.
On September 17, 2008, the Intermediate People's Court of Dehong Prefecture sentenced Mo Weiqi to death in the first instance trial. However, Mo Weiqi insisted that he did not know there were drugs hidden in the suitcase. Eight days later, he appealed to the Higher People's Court of Yunnan Province.
"I firmly believe my husband didn't traffic drugs; otherwise, we wouldn't have tried every means to save him." The news that her husband was arrested for drug trafficking made Wu Xiaoyu extremely anxious, unable to eat or drink, and she gradually lost weight. Although she appeared strong, the cold remarks from neighbors were still unbearable, and she began avoiding going out. "Rescuing" her husband required money, so Wu Xiaoyu had to sell the house she had bought less than two years ago at a lower price, then worked as a nanny in Changsha, sending the saved wages to her husband; her daughter, who was in university, also handed over her part-time income to her mother while encouraging her to stay strong, crying secretly alone.
The focus of life for Mo's siblings also shifted entirely to "rescue." Those who could contribute financially did so, while those who could help physically did so, separately hiring lawyers, leveraging connections, and gathering evidence. Mo Weiqi's third younger brother, Mo Weiliang, had been doing some small businesses outside after being laid off. For his brother, he abandoned his business and frequently traveled between Hunan and Yunnan, staying for half a month at a time or as short as a week. All matters related to contacting lawyers and visiting relevant departments were handled solely by him.
Thus, the entire family was searching everywhere, feeling that as long as they could catch "Mr. Xiong," they could prove Mo Weiqi's innocence. Soon, they discovered "Mr. Xiong's" situation. On September 26, 2008, during a cleanup operation by the Xiangtan police, "Mr. Xiong" (Xiong Zhengjiang) was captured and confessed that Mo Weiqi did not know at the time that there were drugs hidden in the suitcase. The Xiangtan police immediately contacted the Dehong police and had Xiong Zhengjiang escorted to Yunnan.
Experts rushing around everywhere
What caused a dramatic turn in the entire case was a lengthy 6000-word post published on October 3, 2008, on the Rednet forum - "Suggest rescuing wrongfully convicted death row inmates." The poster was Zhu Peili, a standing committee member of the Xiangtan Municipal People's Congress and vice president of the Xiangtan Law Society.
This post revealed for the first time various suspicious aspects of the case: "Sentencing Mo Weiqi to death for transporting drugs violated the principle of 'presumption of innocence' and may lead to the wrongful execution of an innocent person; it also violated the principle of 'evidence-based conviction' and not easily trusting confessions." In his view, there was no direct evidence indicating that Mo Weiqi knowingly or should have known that drugs were hidden in the suitcase compartment. No trace analysis was conducted on the drugs during the investigation, nor were Mo Weiqi's fingerprints obtained. As for Mo Weiqi himself, he not only failed to confess guilt but also repeatedly stated that he was unaware of the presence of drugs.
Based on this, Zhu Peili deduced that there was a possibility of wrongfully executing an innocent person and provided a rescue plan to Mo Weiqi's family: quickly report the situation and provide clues to the local public security organs to assist in capturing Xiong Zhengjiang and "Brother Hua"; reflect the situation to national deputies to the People's Congress or Yunnan provincial deputies to the People's Congress to seek supervision of the case for correction. Four days later, "Mr. Xiong" was captured.
Soon, national deputy to the People's Congress Xie Zilong, standing committee member of the Yunnan Provincial People's Congress Yuan Hongxian, and lawyers Guo Liang and Chen Zigen from Hunan Riren Law Firm also began advocating and rushing around for this case, hoping to save the "wrongfully convicted death row inmate." The case quickly attracted widespread attention.
In early February 2009, the second instance trial of the Yunnan Higher People's Court overturned the first-instance death sentence and remanded the case for retrial; on the 15th, Mo Weiqi's defense lawyer Guo Liang, younger brother Mo Weiliang, and Zhu Peili rushed to Yunnan; on the 18th, Mo Weiqi, Xie Kaiqi, and Xiong Zhengjiang were tried together in the same case. This time, the prosecution still made guilty charges against Mo and Xie. Although their defense lawyers consistently argued for their innocence, they were sentenced to death again for the crime of transporting drugs. Dissatisfied with the verdict, Mo and Xie appealed again.
When Mo Weiqi described his life behind bars to the reporter, he said that due to wearing shackles, his waist and legs were damaged to varying degrees, causing excruciating pain. After learning the result of the retrial, he felt extremely desperate and even contemplated suicide.
Treated the release as going to the execution ground
Finally, the wrongful case saw a turning point.
On July 14, 2009, the Yunnan Higher People's Court called the Mo family: "Please send a family member to the Dehong Intermediate People's Court." At the time, Mo Weiliang, who was handling affairs in Guangzhou, received a call from his family and hurriedly headed to Dehong Prefecture, Yunnan Province. "Why such urgent notice? Could there be another change?" Mo Weiliang silently calculated.
Indeed. Families of Mo and Xie arrived at the Dehong Intermediate People's Court together, where judges from the Yunnan Higher People's Court announced that after deliberation by the judicial committee, Xiong Zhengjiang was sentenced to death with a two-year reprieve; Mo Weiqi and Xie Kaiqi were acquitted. At this point, Mo Weiqi, who had spent nearly 450 days behind bars, was still unaware of this good news.
On July 17, Mo Weiqi specially ordered a plate of Hunan-style spicy stir-fried pork as breakfast. Just as he was about to pick up his chopsticks, staff from the detention center suddenly appeared in front of him. "Mo Weiqi, please come out for a moment!" Mo Weiqi slowly got up with his heavy leg irons. He remembered that just two days ago, a drug trafficker was taken away from here to be executed. "Could it be my turn to go to the execution ground? Even if I die, let me eat my fill first!" Mo Weiqi muttered in his heart.
Soon, Mo Weiqi was brought before two people in civilian clothes. "You are being released without guilt." "What?" Mo Weiqi couldn't believe his ears and urgently asked again. "You are being released without guilt." The definitive answer lifted the heavy stone that had been pressing on Mo Weiqi's heart for 15 months.
"Delayed justice" sparks discussion
From being sentenced to death in the first and retrial trials to being acquitted in the final trial, Mo Weiqi's fate experienced dramatic ups and downs like a roller coaster. Now, the vehicle has finally reached its destination, but this "delayed justice" has sparked much debate among the public and scholars.
Associate Professor Chen Lan from the School of Law at Wuhan University said: "There are many aspects worth reflecting on in this case. The reason for sentencing to death twice was failing to properly handle the evidence gatekeeping. Without sufficient evidence, it cannot be determined that Mo Weiqi subjectively knew he was trafficking drugs. Our country's judicial organs have long emphasized punishing crimes but neglected protecting human rights." According to what I learned, retaining the death penalty, strictly controlling and limiting the death penalty, minimizing executions, and exercising caution in executions are the basic principles of criminal trials in our country. On January 1, 2007, the Supreme People's Court reclaimed the previously delegated authority to review death sentences, aiming to exercise utmost caution in death penalty judgments.
Another point of contention in this case is the amount of state compensation. The "State Compensation Law" has been enacted and implemented for nearly 15 years, with only one-third of the applied cases resulting in compensation. Article 26 of the law stipulates: If citizens' personal freedom is infringed upon, the daily compensation shall be calculated according to the average daily wage of workers in the previous year of the country. "This is equivalent to earning a day's salary for spending a day in jail. Academia, the public, and the government all believe this standard is too low and needs adjustment," Professor He Bing of China University of Political Science and Law told reporters: "Different regions and industries inevitably reflect differences in average wages, so losses caused by imprisonment cannot be generalized. Moreover, the 'State Compensation Law' only specifies compensation for material losses but ignores the mental damages endured by innocent citizens who were wrongly detained due to non-existent criminal facts. The draft amendment to the State Compensation Law submitted for the third review by the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress at the end of October 2009 included 'mental compensation,' but the third review did not pass." This means that the tug-of-war over how to adjust compensation standards and content will continue.