Quick summary: A Chinese property developer was executed. His alleged crime was illegally raising 3.4 billion yuan (equivalent to about 680 million US dollars) in funds from investors. The man was not allowed to see his family before he was executed, which is the usual practice. This sparked a public outcry. The family was not even notified that he was going to be executed. What this means is the man was not allowed to communicate to his family or the outside world after he was arrested and accused. Chinese prisoners held in detention facilities are not permitted visitors or to receive mail, and they may not have access to these privileges even up until their case goes to trial. Some are asking why the execution seemed to be so rushed. Was there something this developer knew that the authorities did not want him to be able to communicate to his family or the outside world? Maybe there were corrupt officials who were somehow involved and they didn't want that information made public? Critics slam Changsha authorities over execution of developer Changsha court accused of denying right of developer to see his family before his execution, while court insists the accused made no request Amid a public outcry over a death-row prisoner being executed without bidding farewell to his family, a court in Changsha in Hunan , said that no request was made by the inmate to meet with his family. sparking heated debate over the "hasty execution". Zeng Chengjie, 55, was convicted in May 2011 of illegally raising 3.4 billion yuan (HK$4.3 billion) in Hunan. The property developer was executed on Friday morning by lethal injection without his family first being notified, local media reported. His wife was also implicated in the case and is serving a 5½-year sentence. His daughter, Zeng Shan, who had been fighting for his exoneration in Beijing and went on a five-day hunger strike last month in protest, said online that the execution had taken place, and questioned why it took place as it did. "This morning, my father was executed by lethal injection," Zeng Shan wrote around 10pm on Friday. "I didn't even get to see him one last time! … the government has yet to [formally] inform us." About 40 minutes later, she wrote: "We rushed to the court and saw the execution notice. Father has really been murdered. My mind and my brother's mind went blank. Why wouldn't they notify us or let us see his body? Why? A court security guard told us we may not be able to get back his cremated remains until Monday." Her posts went viral online, prompting questions about whether it was legal for the court to not inform family members before executing a convict, and sparking renewed calls to abolish the death penalty in non-violent crimes. In response to the mounting queries, the Changsha City Intermediate People's Court released a brief statement on Sina's popular microblog service on Saturday afternoon, saying: "There is no clearly written law stipulating that convicts must meet with family members before being executed." But the statement did little to appease the public. Some internet users called the comment "cold-blooded". About half an hour later, the post was deleted and replaced with an apology saying that the people managing the social media account were not experts in criminal law, and that they had been reprimanded. Shortly before 7pm that day, the court issued a third statement about the execution, saying they had verified the convict's identity before his execution, and that he had been told of his right to meet family members, but no such request was made. Zeng Chengjie started raising the 3.4 billion yuan in 2004 to undertake three construction projects in Jishou , Hunan. A number of high-profile people, including former Google China chief Li Kaifu and well-known lawyers, posted critical comments online. "I am Li Kaifu. If I were going to be executed one day, and the judge told me I had the right to see my family, I promise I would definitely ask to meet with my family members," Li said. "If the court says after my execution that no such request was made, it will be a lie. Please pass on this post and make your own vow in case you one day miss out on a last chance to meet with your family." Professor Xu Xin, who teaches law at the Beijing Institute of Technology, said the Changsha court "repeatedly lied" to cover up its illegal execution. Also since the execution, a number of lawyers have called on the court chief, Luo Hengning , to step down after "violently exploiting an inmate's last opportunity to meet with family members". The controversy even drew criticism by People's Daily, with the party mouthpiece using its Sina microblog to question the execution's legality. http://www.scmp.com/news/china/arti...changsha-authorities-over-execution-developer This entire article is revealing about a lot of things in China. Notice how social media posts critical of the government were immediately removed (self-censorship) and someone else managing the site felt compelled to issue an apology. It was claimed that the man made no request to see his family, which is very unlikely and difficult to believe. Chinese society places a high importance on the family. According to The Atlantic: Even in a country used to capital punishment, Zeng Chengjie's case has sparked outrage. Zeng Chengjie, a self-made businessman who pulled himself up by the bootstraps from abject poverty to become a powerful real estate developer, was showered with accolades and superfluous praises for most of his life. In 2006, the local state-owned media in Hunan, his home province, wrote a glowing profile of the "diligent, wise and conscientious man," concluding that "the future, for Zeng, is starting new ventures, new glories and new legends!" But the future had other plans. Zeng was executed on July 12, 2013 by lethal injection. His crimes were illegal fundraising activities and financial fraud. He allegedly defrauded more than 57,000 investors out of approximately RMB 2.8 billion (US $460 million), of which RMB 1.7 billion had been returned. He used the money to fund his company that bid for urban development projects, including key local landmarks and public facilities, in Jishou, a small city in Hunan. Zeng's family was not notified before his execution, and did not see his body before it was cremated. According to Zeng's daughter, the local government encouraged Zeng's fundraising activities and worked very closely with Zeng on the projects. However, new policy winds swept in around 2009, and Party members took out their investments first, leading to widespread panic among ordinary investors. According to Zeng's daughter, her father was left holding the bag -- he was swiftly imprisoned and his assets were sold under suspicious circumstances. A state-owned asset company, according to Zeng's attorney, picked up the pieces and gained a huge profit from Zeng's fall from grace. Zeng's case bears strikingly resemblance to that of Wu Ying, a young business woman in Zhejiang Province who was also the darling of the state-owned media before she was accused of running a Ponzi scheme. Wu was handed a death sentence too, but she received a reprieve after a tidal wave of Internet support for her prompted a review from the Supreme People's Court. Supporters for Wu Ying have implied that her trial was an attempt to silence her before she could blow the whistle on local corruption. According Zeng's daughter, China's supreme court approved Zeng's death sentence after the party boss of Hunan at the time of Zeng's conviction became the chief justice. Faced with questions about Zeng's secret execution, the Intermediate People's Court in Changsha tweeted on Sina Weibo that China's laws do not decree that a death row inmate must meet with his family before execution, but astute Internet users pointed out that the Supreme People's Court did in fact issue an interpretation that gives death row inmates the right to meet with family. One commentator tweeted this: Zeng's case is interesting, not because there is doubt about his innocence. The point is that the case provides us with a picture of the eco-system of China's business environment, from which we get a glimpse of the awkward situation of China's business people -- how lucky the winners are, how unfortunate the losers are, and how scary it is when political power mix with business life. https://www.theatlantic.com/china/a...-for-fraud-and-nobody-told-his-family/277789/
