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Society

Alleged mafia-style gang leader claims tortured

By Wang Huazhong (China Daily)
Updated: 2010-01-06 07:46

CHONGQING: Alleged gang boss Fan Qihang - an accomplice of Gong Gangmo, who reported his own lawyer for instructing him to falsely "claim police torture" - said in court yesterday the police beat him into signing statements of confession.

Fan told the Chongqing No 1 intermediate people's court that he was strung to the ceiling of a cell and tortured for more than 10 days by police of Jiangbei district bureau - a near identical accusation that took Gong's lawyer, Li Zhuang, to trial on charges of fabricating evidence on Dec 30, 2009.

The intermediate people's court yesterday opened trial on the 34-member gang, allegedly led by Fan, 39, and Gong, 46, on charges of murder, drug trafficking and illegal trade and possession of firearms among other crimes.

"The police treated me inhumanly. They strung me up and beat me over the past five months until I agreed to sign whatever they asked me to," Fan said in court.

"They told me these guns belong to me, and all I have to do is admit to it.

"I can show you the wounds on my head, wrists and legs now," he told the court, which stopped him and asked him to submit a written statement later.

Fan's lawyer, Zhu Mingyong, told China Daily that he saw his client's wounds in the detention center, adding that Fan was also imprisoned in the Tieshanping Militia Training Camp, where, according to Gong's former lawyer Li, his client, too, was interrogated.

"Fan told me the police would not allow him to sleep, and all they did was torture him," Zhu said.

Pleading not guilty, Fan said: "All the evidence (against me) on the indictment is false."

Gong, however, admitted that the police records acquired during his interrogation were factual.

But he denied charges of organizing and leading the mafia-style gang, murder, running gambling dens, trading drugs and firearms stated in the indictment.

"He (Gong) behaved like a victim, not a defendant, in court today," said Wang Shiming, a resident who witnessed the trial.

On Dec 30, Gong reported his lawyer for instructing him to fabricate evidence, which experts believe was nothing but an attempt to seek atonement.

Li, his former lawyer, now stands as a defendant in a separate trial.

The intermediate court has appointed local lawyer Fu Daqing to represent Gong.

After Gong's accusation on Li, law practitioners across the country urged the local government to ensure protection for lawyers who choose to defend the accused gangsters.

Fan's lawyer Zhu said local authorities are still infringing on the rights of defense lawyers.

"I have kept the records of conversations with my client. They must be submitted for police examination," he said.

Chinese Law stipulates that police should not be involved whatsoever in the judicial proceedings, as the process of collecting evidence concludes in the investigation stage.

Zhu said he received "very few and fragments" of documentation from the court, which made it hard for him to prepare the defense.

Figures released yesterday by the Chongqing People's Procuratorate showed that last year, 12 of the 20 bureau-level officials - one level lower than ministerial officials - who were investigated for "job-related" crimes were involved in gang-related crimes.