Jimu news reporter Huang Zhong
Correspondent He Xing
On January 11, a criminal incidental civil public interest lawsuit brought by the procuratorate of Yunyang District, Shiyan City, Hubei Province, was tried on suspicion of criminal incidental civil public interest lawsuits involving the crime of excavating ancient cultural sites and ancient tombs. The court ruled in court that the defendant should bear the damage caused to the national public interest due to the excavation and compensate 44,000 yuan for the restoration of the site.
Hanjiazhou ruins, Yangjiagou cemetery, the tomb era is from the Han Dynasty to the Six Dynasties period, mainly Qin and Han cemeteries, dense burial, wide distribution, is an important empirical data for studying the history and culture of Qin and Han in the upper reaches of the Han River, funerary customs and archaeological culture, with important historical, artistic and scientific value.
The Jimu News reporter learned that from the end of 2016 to December 2020, Tu and Wang, in order to obtain illegal benefits, robbed tombs in Hanjiazhou, Liupi Town, Yunyang District, and three mountain beams in Yangjiagou Village, Qingqu Town, through stepping on points and other methods.
The scene of the trial
The two spent more than 100,000 yuan before and after digging multiple pirate holes, Tu was responsible for selecting excavation points and on-site command, and Wang was responsible for logistics services and picking up workers. The longest of the excavated caves was more than 100 meters, causing serious disturbances to the strata of the site. On January 13, Wang Lingli, the procurator in charge of the Yunyang District Procuratorate, introduced that after the identification of the Hubei Provincial Museum, the location of Tu Mou, Wang Mou and others was in the core protection area of the Hanjiazhou ruins of the provincial cultural relics protection unit, and the illegal excavation seriously damaged the ancient ruins, ancient tomb cultural relics and preservation environment, which was an act of illegal excavation of ancient tombs.
On December 18, 2020, Tu Mou, Wang Mou and others were arrested by Yunyang police on the way to the Jinji Temple in Tuguanya Town, Danjiangkou, on the way to excavate ancient tombs. In June 2021, the case was transferred for review for prosecution.
After review, the procuratorial organs held that Tu X, Wang X, and others who illegally excavated ancient tombs in the core protection area of the Hanjiazhou ruins of the provincial-level cultural relics protection unit constituted the crime of excavating ancient cultural sites, ancient tombs, and reselling cultural relics, and should be investigated for criminal liability according to law; cultural relics resources belonged to the state, and any illegal excavation of ancient tombs was prohibited, and the illegal excavations of Tu X, Wang X, and others destroyed the body and preservation environment of cultural relics, caused serious damage to the safety of cultural relics, infringed on the national and social public interests, and should bear civil tort liability according to law. After the Shiyan City Museum identified only the cultural relics of Hanjiazhou ruins and Yangjiagou cemeteries destroyed in this case to clean up, backfill and protect, it will cost more than 44,000 yuan, but the damage caused by the illegal excavation to the ancient cultural sites cannot be measured in money, and must be resolutely cracked down. After trial, the local court ruled in full support of the procuratorate's litigation claim.
Wang Lingli introduced that the defendants of the criminal attached civil public interest litigation are willing to bear the damage caused to the national public interest due to the excavation, and have voluntarily paid the full compensation of 44,000 yuan, and said that they will publicly apologize to the public in the media.
"Strikes are only means, protection is the end." Wang Lingli, the procurator in charge of the case, said that in recent years, the court has fully performed its public interest litigation function, severely cracked down on the crime of stealing and excavating cultural relics, made a fortune overnight because of its dream of reselling cultural relics, and stepped forward to take risks in the act of excavating ancient cultural sites and ancient tombs, which not only violated the criminal law and harmed the national and social public interests, but also received civil recovery from public interest litigation. Through the handling of this case, it is hoped that it will attract the attention of the society and guide people to jointly protect cultural heritage. At the same time, it is recommended that relevant functional departments conscientiously perform their duties, strengthen the daily management of cultural relics protection units, and put an end to illegal excavations.
Jimu News reporters learned that the criminal part of the defendant in the case will be sentenced at a later date.
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