Four punished over citizens' arrest fatality
- Source: Global Times
- [03:20 March 17 2010]
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By Ji Beibei
A debate about whether citizens should help police detain suspects erupted after it was reported that a court in Central China's Henan Province sentenced four men who detained a suspect to 10 years behind bars in October.
Bai Zhaoyang and his acquaintances are awaiting the verdict of an appeal filed in Zhengzhou Intermediate People's Court recently.
The incident happened in November 2007, when Liu Xuejing, the boss of a chemical factory in Gongyi, Henan Province who was suspected of illegally selling explosives, was at large, the Beijing News reported yesterday.
Bai, who had economic disputes with Liu, learned Liu was returning to Gongyi a month later and told police.
A police officer told Bai and his friends to follow Liu.
The four found Liu was leaving the next day, and they took Liu to a car and called the police.
However, Liu suddenly appeared sick after 20 minutes and the four rushed him to the hospital where he died.
The autopsy report by the authorities in Zhengzhou and the Institute of Forensic Science based in Shanghai said the suspect died of a heart attack.
Minor bruises were found on Liu's body, but the possibility of violence or suffocation were ruled out, the institute report said.
The court in Zhongmou county sentenced the four men to 10 years imprisonment on the charge of illegally detaining a suspect.
The court cited evidence that the four intentionally and illegally restricted another person's movement. The behavior of the four men went beyond reasonable standards.
Calls to the two courts were unanswered Tuesday.
Some legal experts said the laws said every citizen has the right and an obligation to help police catch suspects.
"Bai was assisting the capture of a suspect with approval from police officers," said Zhao Bingzhi, an expert from Beijing-based China Law Society.
"Citizens include those who have disputes with suspects," Liu Tao, an expert of criminal law, told the Global Times.
Another criminal lawyer, Mo Shaoping, told the Global Times that he believed Bai was waiting for the police officers to arrest the suspect.
Chen Tao, a lawyer based in Beijing, said citizens should be encouraged to help police fight crimes, but protecting the rights of suspects is also important.
It is important for authorities to check out every detail of each case, he added.
