"I went to rob just to come in and go to jail and heal."
The young man Wang Xin, who was sitting across the interrogation table, spoke in a surprising way
The prosecutor in charge, who had known the facts of the case in advance, knew
Behind these words
It was Wang Xin's confusion and struggle suffering from mental illness
What is "social terrorism"?
During the interrogation, Wang Xin said that he had serious "social fears." "Social phobia", also known as "social phobia", is a subtype of phobia neurosis. On the Internet, contemporary young people often use it to mock themselves as a way to express their anxiety and fear of socializing with others. But for Wang Xin, this word is not a joke, but a pain that hits the soul directly.
"I'm always thinking wildly, I can't stop thinking, thinking about things is very complicated, my brain is very chaotic, and I am also disgusted with people around me, I feel very noisy..." Wang Xin described his condition. Before being captured, Wang Xin worked as an apprentice in a barbershop, and was able to learn techniques and eat and live, which was originally a good job. However, because of his illness, Wang Xin was always unable to concentrate on studying, his progress in work was very slow, his technology could not be improved, and he could not make money. This undoubtedly made him, who was already troubled by his illness, even more depressed and wanted to flee. "So I wanted to go to jail so I could temporarily escape everything from the outside world, from the crowd," he said. ”
So, on the evening of the day before the Spring Festival in 2021, Wang Xin began to implement his "prison plan". He carried a fruit knife with him, found a small convenience store that few people visited, and prepared to start "robbing". From the surveillance video, it can be seen that after Wang Xin took a cigarette handed to him by the convenience store owner, he took two steps back timidly, took the knife in his pocket, and waved it casually to show "threat". After doing this set of actions, Wang Xin said to the boss: "I rob, you quickly call the police." ”
The boss thought Wang Xin was joking and ignored it. Wang Xin was helpless, simply took the cigarette directly to the door, and the boss greeted him and asked him to come back and pay. Wang Xin "obediently" walked back to the store and said to the boss again: "I robbed, you should call the police!" The boss still ignored it, and casually took the cigarette in Wang Xin's hand and put it back on the shelf. Wang Xin, who failed to do so, could only call the police at the door of the store.
Obviously, Wang Xin's situation is far from the "social terrorism" mentioned on the Internet. After Wang Xin was arrested, the judicial organs asked a professional appraisal agency to conduct a psychiatric examination of him. The results of the examination are consistent with the results of Wang Xin's self-examination in early 2019, he suffers from "mixed anxiety disorder", and often thinks wildly and feels irritable.
The appraisal results held that Wang Xin had the capacity to limit criminal liability in this case and also had the ability to be tried. In March 2021, the public security organs requested the Shanghai Songjiang District People's Procuratorate to approve Wang Xin's arrest.
Can jail time cure "social terrorism"?
Can jail time cure "social terrorism"? This is the first question that arises after the undertaking procurator understands the facts of the case, and it is also a difficult problem in the handling of this case in which jurisprudence and reasonableness are intertwined.
According to the various evidence in the case, Wang Xin's behavior was indeed enough to constitute the crime of robbery, and according to the law, putting him in a high wall could indeed punish the crime, and it was also the simplest way to deal with it at that time. But can this really resolve social tensions and help this young man who is deeply troubled by mental illness? This decision will affect the life of this young man who has just turned 19. The time limit for reviewing arrest cases is only seven days, and the procurator in charge is constantly searching for answers.
The procurator first consulted the experts who conducted the psychiatric evaluation for Wang Xin on this issue, and learned about the scientific nature of this "treatment method" from the medical level. Experts said that in the communication with Wang Xin, it was found that Wang Xin had clear consciousness, concentrated attention, answered questions, thought coherently, was emotionally stable, and emotional reflection was appropriate. Although affected by psychiatric symptoms, Wang Xin's control ability was weakened, but no psychotic symptoms such as hallucinations and delusions were found, and there was no abnormality in intelligence, which was still mild. Experts believe that in Wang Xin's current situation, it is unlikely to make extreme behaviors that harm others or hurt himself, and for such patients, social care, family care and targeted scientific treatment are more conducive to the improvement of the disease.
Prosecutors and mental illness experts believe that if Wang Xin is arrested and detained, he will not be able to get effective treatment, and the place of supervision is mixed and easy to "cross-infect", which will lead to aggravation of his illness. In this way, long-term detention in the place of supervision may make him a social destabilizing factor. However, when he went to the detention center to interrogate Wang Xin, Wang Xin was resolute in demanding that he be detained, and the procurator was worried that after releasing him on guarantee pending further investigation, he would commit another crime or commit self-harm.
With the approval of experts, the procurator was more certain of Wang Xin's decision not to approve the arrest, but if he really wanted to avoid Wang Xin's self-harm or injury incident, he still needed the support of one person, that is, Wang Xin's father, Wang Cheng. Wang Cheng said that after the child fell ill, he has always resisted dealing with people, and the same is true for his family. Previously, he thought that the child had been taking medicine, the condition was relatively stable, and he did not want to make the child unhappy because of his appearance, so he tried to disturb the child as little as possible, just make a phone call and meet the second time, because he failed to stop the child's behavior in time. Now that the child has an accident, he will definitely strengthen his guardianship of Wang Xin. Wang Xin's father said that although he was a migrant worker in Shanghai, he now had a stable job and income, and if the procuratorate made a decision not to approve Wang Xin's arrest, he would definitely take good care of his son and perform his father's duties.
An indispensable link is also the opinion of the victims. In the previous telephone communication, the victim told the prosecutor that he did not regard the incident as a robbery at all, and did not feel threatened from beginning to end, saying: "He (Wang Xin) is a child, and he must have encountered something to do it." I didn't have anything to lose, and I didn't even think about calling the police. Therefore, he is willing to issue a letter of understanding for Wang Xin, and also hopes that the procuratorial organs will not pursue Wang Xin's criminal responsibility.
In response to such a complex case, the procurator undertaking the case invited people's supervisors to participate in public hearings and reviews in accordance with legal procedures to hear the opinions of the public. At the hearing, the procurator in charge truthfully told the people's supervisor about the dilemma between catching and not arresting. The people's supervisors unanimously held that with Wang Xin's current mental condition, social and family help is necessary, detention awaiting trial will only aggravate his condition, and it is more appropriate to take non-custodial compulsory measures against Wang Xin. Therefore, they agreed not to approve Wang Xin's arrest.
In March 2021, the procuratorial organs made a decision not to approve Wang Xin's arrest after considering various considerations, and the public security organs changed Wang Xin to a compulsory measure for release on guarantee pending further investigation.
Wang Xin reluctantly left his "dream" cell, where will he go in the future?
How should "social terrorism" be cured?
During the public hearing, the procurator not only listened to the opinions of the people's supervisors on the handling of the case, but also jointly studied and discussed with the people's supervisors the issue of Wang Xin's whereabouts after he was released on guarantee pending further investigation. Allowing him to stay at home is obviously not an option, and it will only further exacerbate his disconnect with society.
Coincidentally, during this public hearing, there happened to be a people's supervisor from the Shanghai Municipal Association of Social Workers. She said at the hearing that she could introduce Wang Xin to volunteer work in the hospital and let him provide volunteer help for medical personnel to use smart phones to make appointments and register in the hospital. Mobile phone operation app is not difficult for young people like Wang Xin, and there will be no pressure like learning haircuts. And in the face of medical personnel consultation, most of them are one-on-one communication, do not need to contact too many people at once, for Wang Xin can also avoid a wide range of social troubles. At the same time, the psychological satisfaction of helping others is also a positive incentive for Wang Xin after socialization. The people's supervisor suggested that in such a warm and gentle way, Wang Xin gradually returned to society and found a way to deal with others again.
In addition, the procurator also contacted psychological experts to conduct psychological counseling for Wang Xin many times to help him correctly face his illness and carry out scientific treatment.
After communicating with Wang Xin, he agreed to the job and quickly took up his post, and also accepted the professional psychological help provided to him by the prosecutor.
In order to ensure the effectiveness of Wang Xin's investigation and education measures, procurators, professional psychologists, medical personnel, and volunteers set up a "Wang Xin Case Work WeChat Group" to keep abreast of Wang Xin's work performance and mental status, and dynamically adjust the measures for Wang Xin's help and education according to the situation. According to feedback from the group, Wang Xin performed well in the volunteer work of the hospital, and also won the praise of the hospital and the medical staff for collecting gold. Although Wang Xin still does not dare to open his mouth, talk to people and dare not look directly at each other, psychological experts believe that the course of treatment of mental illness can be long or short, and sufficient patience should be given.
In June 2021, the case was transferred for review for prosecution. The procurator in charge of the case interrogated Wang Xin again. In this interrogation, Wang Xin's performance was the same as that of the previous sentence. The procurator in charge of the case still remembers Wang Xin's decadent and depressed appearance during the review and arrest stage, and also remembers that Wang Xin was very resistant to being released on guarantee pending further investigation, and felt that he was very good in the detention center. At this time, Wang Xin was obviously more perked up and deeply regretted his previous actions. He said that he had fully realized the absurdity of his behavior, although he admitted guilt and accepted punishment as before, but this time, he did not want to go to the detention center to "treat the disease", he realized that life is beautiful, freedom is precious, and hoped that the procuratorate could give him a chance to reform himself.
What should be done after the "social terror" is cured?
Wang Xin's criminal acts are among the "minor criminal circumstances" in felony cases, and when handling them, procurators must not only crack down strictly in accordance with the law, promptly and effectively deter crimes, but also avoid mechanical case handling, prudently grasp the nature of the case, and take into account law, reason, and circumstances. Therefore, the procurator conducted a comprehensive assessment of Wang Xin's criminal conduct from the aspects of the motive for committing the crime, the means of committing the crime, and the harmful consequences, and found that Wang Xin's subjective malignancy was not large, the social harm of the criminal act was small, and there were statutory and discretionary mitigating circumstances such as voluntary surrender, the circumstances of admitting guilt and accepting punishment, and obtaining the victim's forgiveness, and also because the person with limited criminal responsibility capacity could be given a mitigated or mitigated punishment in accordance with law, and met the requirements for not arresting or not prosecuting, it was proposed to make a decision not to prosecute Wang Xin.
After another public hearing and review, the procurator undertook the case to hear the opinions of people's supervisors, investigative organs, and other parties to ensure that the decision not to arrest or prosecute a felony case conforms to the social cognition of ordinary people and is generally recognized by society. In the end, the people's supervisors, the investigation organs, the victims, and other parties all agreed to make a decision not to prosecute Wang Xin.
After the decision not to prosecute Wang Xin was made, the procurator in charge and Wang Xin had another conversation. During the conversation, the procurator conducted a full education on Wang Xin's explanation of the law and the rule of law, so that he realized the seriousness of the law and avoided taking chances at the law because of the decision not to arrest and not to prosecute. Wang Xin said that he has fully realized the harm of his actions and sincerely confessed and repented. He was grateful for the care given to him by the procuratorate and all parties in society during this time, and he originally thought that his life was over, and he never thought that he would have a chance to have a new life. At present, his illness has improved, and he is confident that he will be able to cure himself. Wang Xin's father also accompanied his son, and the procurator who undertook the case also fully communicated with him. Wang Cheng promised that he would do his best to perform his guardianship duties and accompany Wang Xin back to normal life.
This non-prosecution decision must not only inform Wang Xin, but also be delivered to the victims. Although the victims repeatedly expressed their support for this decision, the procurator in charge of the case still explained the law to him, explained the criminal system and legal logic behind this decision, and hoped that the victims would truly believe in the decision not to arrest and not prosecute. The victims agreed.
At this point, the social relations damaged by Wang Xin's criminal behavior have been effectively repaired, and this absurd robbery case has finally been settled. Up to now, the procurator in charge continues to pay attention to Wang Xin's growth through the WeChat work group, and provides opinions, suggestions and necessary help for his study, employment and treatment, hoping to use the warmth of the procuratorate to promote his early return to society and become a useful person to society. The volunteers and caring people in the group also continued to find a way out for Wang Xin's subsequent life, such as applying for relevant subsidies for him, taking him to the Open University to consult the majors that he could apply for, and connecting him with channels to learn technology and crafts.
Now that the new year has arrived, the procurators look forward to Wang Xin's new atmosphere in the new year, and also hope that Wang Xin's story can reflect the significance and value of the procuratorial organs not to arrest and not prosecute, so that the decision not to arrest and not prosecute can withstand the test of practice and history, and is worthy of the trust of the state and the people. (The characters in this article are pseudonyms)
Author | Xu Li Jiang Yunfen
Source: Shanghai Rule of Law Daily