Media Perverting Justice

Another anecdote from Bai Yansong's (白岩松) book 痛并快乐着 on the power of the media.

Zhang Jinzhu (张金柱) was a former director of public security of Zhengzhou (郑州) in Henan (河南) province.

One day in the 1990s, Zhang was drunk and drove against the flow of traffic. He knocked down a father and son riding a bicycle. The son died instantly, while the father was dragged a shot distance before Zhang was stopped by furious onlookers.

Incidentally, Bai suggested that Zhang had a propensity to drive in the reverse direction due to the sense of "privilege" cultivated as a public security elite. Any Chinese or anyone who has been in China long enough will instinctively understand what Bai was talking about.

Anyway, in a large country like China, not every incident will be reported, let alone brought to national attention. But in this case, it was a local newspaper that first reported the incident, and this was then followed up by China's Central Television (CCTV).

It did not take long before newspapers across the country picked up on the story. Unsurprising, the incident triggered off a nationwide outrage. As Bai noted, "in the hearts of many people, Zhang had already been given a death sentence."

As it turned out, the courts later pronounced Zhang guilty. He was sentenced to death, to the jubilation of many, who felt that justice had been served.

But after the verdict was issued, the two lawyers representing Zhang circulated an open letter arguing that even though Zhang was guilty, he should not have been sentenced to death. The lawyers also consulted 8 other legal experts in Beijing, and all agreed that Zhang should not have received the death sentence.

Others also pointed to what they felt were troubling wordings in the court's verdict. In sentencing Zhang, the judge/s had written "罪大恶极. 不杀不足以平民愤" (or "crime most hideous, nothing short of a death sentence will sooth the rage of ordinary citizens")

Hence, many wondered if the media and the reaction of the masses had influenced the legal outcome, thus leading to Zhang's ultimate death sentence.

As Bai noted, one of the last words uttered by Zhang was "我是被你们记者杀死的" (or "I am killed by you reporters")