The First-Instance Judgment
Criminal Judgment of the People’s Court of Xishan District, Kunming City, Yunnan Province
Public Prosecution Organ: The People’s Procuratorate of Xishan District, Kunming City.
Defendant: Chen Jingyuan, male, Han ethnicity, born June 30, 1976, Citizen ID Number 510212197606300330, PhD degree, unemployed, registered residence in Xuhui District, Shanghai, residing at 407 Zhaojiabang Road, Xuhui District, Shanghai. Criminally detained on September 7, 2022, for this case, and arrested on October 14, 2022, currently detained in the Xishan District Detention Center of Kunming City.
Defense Lawyers: Yang Yuan, Li Min, lawyers of Yunnan Linsgyun Law Firm.
The People’s Procuratorate of Xishan District, Kunming City, filed a public prosecution with this court with the indictment Xi Jian Xing Su [2023] Z1, accusing the defendant Chen Jingyuan of the crime of picking quarrels and provoking trouble. After accepting the case, this court legally applied the ordinary procedure and formed a collegial panel to conduct a non-public hearing. The People’s Procuratorate of Xishan District, Kunming City, appointed prosecutor Ge Bin to appear in court to support the public prosecution, and the defendant Chen Jingyuan and his defense lawyers Yang Yuan and Li Min appeared in court to participate in the litigation. This case has been reviewed by the collegial panel and the trial has now concluded.
The public prosecution organ alleged that:
From July 2019 to April 2022, the defendant Chen Jingyuan used circumvention software to use chat tools to spread false statements on the information network, disrupting social order. The defendant Chen Jingyuan was arrested by the police on September 6, 2022, at 13A02, Building 14, Area 1, Rencheng, Xishan District, Kunming City.
The Public Prosecutor believes the defendant, Chen Jingyuan, disregarded national law, knowingly spread and disseminated false information on information networks, causing serious disruption to public order. His behavior has violated the stipulations of Article 293 of the “Criminal Law of the People’s Republic of China”, the facts of the crime are clear, the evidence is reliable and sufficient, and he should be held criminally responsible for picking quarrels and provoking trouble.
The defendant, Chen Jingyuan, asserted that
his behavior was not criminal, arguing that the allegations of the public prosecution organ did not conform to the facts and violated his freedom of speech, thought, and belief.
The defense lawyers stated that whether the information involved in the case is false information is debatable, and the defendant Chen Jingyuan did not knowingly spread false information intentionally. His browsing and retweeting of posts were all out of boredom to pass the time. The forwarding and commenting on some political posts or cartoon pictures were not intended to insult or intimidate others or to spread false information. His behavior did not have any political purpose or the purpose of picking quarrels and provoking trouble.
After trial, it was found that: From July 2019 to April 2022, the defendant Chen Jingyuan used circumvention software to use chat tools to spread false statements on the information network, disrupting social order. The defendant Chen Jingyuan was arrested by the police on September 6, 2022, at 13A02, Building 14, Area 1, Rencheng, Xishan District, Kunming City.
The above facts are confirmed by evidence presented by the public prosecution organ in court, including household registration certificates, the circumstances of the arrest, the defendant Chen Jingyuan’s confession and defense, witness testimonies, search warrants and search records, seizure decisions and seizure lists, online extraction records, electronic data extraction lists, explanations on the sorting of Chen Jingyuan’s network chat platforms, item review forms, etc. The evidence collection process is legal, the content is objective and true, and they can be corroborated with each other to form a chain of evidence, which this court confirms.
This court believes that
the public cyberspace is not a place beyond the law. As a person with full criminal capacity and a high level of education and knowledge, the defendant, Chen Jingyuan, should distinguish right from wrong when using overseas chat software. In the process of using the software, the defendant, Chen Jingyuan, retweeted pictures and articles that he knew were insulting and attacking the core of the country’s leadership and China’s current political system. The retweeted content was sorted and found to be false information, causing serious disorder in public order. Therefore, his behavior constituted the crime of picking quarrels and provoking trouble. Accordingly, in accordance with the provisions of Article 293, Paragraph 1, Article 47, and Article 64 of the “Criminal Law of the People’s Republic of China,” and Article 5, Paragraph 2 of the “Interpretation of the Supreme People’s Court and the Supreme People’s Procuratorate on Several Issues Concerning the Application of Law in Handling Criminal Cases of Defamation Using Information Networks,”
the judgment is as follows:
The defendant, Chen Jingyuan, is found guilty of the crime of picking quarrels and provoking trouble and sentenced to one year and eight months in prison (the sentence is calculated from the date of execution of the judgment. The period of detention before the execution of the judgment shall be offset against the sentence, one day of detention shall be offset by one day of the sentence, that is, from September 7, 2022, to May 6, 2024).
The seized computers, mobile phones, and hard drives shall be dealt with according to law.
If you are not satisfied with this judgment, you may, within ten days from the second day of receiving the judgment, appeal to the Intermediate People’s Court of Kunming City, Yunnan Province, through this court or directly. If you appeal in writing, you should submit one original copy of the appeal petition and two copies.
[Chinese]