On April 1, the Hangzhou Internet Court formed a seven-member collegial panel to hold a public hearing on the public interest litigation plaintiff Hangzhou Linping District People's Procuratorate v. Chen Mou Heroic Martyrs To Protect Civil Public Interest Litigation, and ordered the defendant Chen mou to publicly apologize in the state-level media and eliminate the impact.
The public interest litigation prosecutor alleged that in the course of performing his duties, he found that between February and April 2021, Chen published a total of 20 inappropriate comments against the Shubian martyr Xiao Siyuan under Weibo accounts such as "People's Daily", "CCTV News" and "Toutiao News", slandering his image and reputation. Chen's behavior infringed on the reputation and honor of the Shubian martyr Xiao Siyuan and harmed the social public interest, so he filed a civil public interest lawsuit with the Hangzhou Internet Court, requesting that the defendant Chen be ordered to publicly apologize and eliminate the impact in the national news media.
Defendant Chen argued that because of his lack of ambition in real life, he thought that no one on the Internet knew who he was, so he used network attacks, slander and insults to vent negative emotions. He has deeply realized the mistakes of his own behavior, deeply apologized for the negative impact of his words and deeds on the public, and the harm caused to martyr Xiao Siyuan and his relatives, and was willing to sincerely apologize to the public.
According to the list of martyrs of the China Heroic Martyrs Network, Xiao Siyuan, a soldier on the border, swore to defend the territory of the motherland to the death in the border conflict on June 15, 2020, and after the breakthrough, he returned to rescue his comrades-in-arms without hesitation, was besieged by the enemy and died heroically, and was posthumously honored by the Central Military Commission in February 2021.
After trial, the Hangzhou Internet Court held that the deeds and spirit of heroes and martyrs are the common memory of the Chinese nation and an important embodiment of the core values of socialism. The heroic deeds of martyr Xiao Siyuan have established a spiritual guide for the broad masses of the people not to be afraid of hardships, not afraid of difficulties, and to fight and sacrifice for the country and the people, which is one of the cores of the Chinese national spirit and an important embodiment of the core values of socialism. Defendants involved in the case whose words and deeds infringe on the honor and honor of heroes and martyrs, and harm the societal public interest, shall bear civil liability for making a formal apology.
First of all, the defendant's words and deeds involved in the case pointed to the martyr Xiao Siyuan. The defendant repeatedly made insulting remarks against the martyr Xiao Siyuan under articles commemorating and remembering the martyr Xiao Siyuan. Judging from the form, content and quantity of his comments and replies, the subject of the remarks is clear, that is, Xiao Siyuan martyr.
Second, the defendant's words and deeds involved in the case infringed upon the reputation and honor of martyr Xiao Siyuan. Reputation is a social evaluation of the subject's morality, prestige, talent, credibility, credit, etc. Honor is the positive and formal evaluation given by the state and society to subjects who have made outstanding contributions or outstanding performances in the production and life of society. The reputation and honor of social subjects are closely linked, but there are also differences. Honor is an honorary title conferred on a subject by the state or social organization, and it is a praise evaluation of the subject's specific behavior in a specific event. Reputation is a comprehensive social evaluation of the subject's conduct and ability. Acts of infringement of honor are likely to cause infringement on the reputation of the subject, and vice versa. In this case, the words used by the defendant were insulting, which clearly constituted an infringement on the reputation of martyr Xiao Siyuan. At the same time, he made defamatory and derogatory remarks on the heroic deeds of martyr Xiao Siyuan in defending the border and defending the country, seriously infringing on the honor of martyr Xiao Siyuan.
Finally, the defendant's words and deeds in the case harmed the public interest. The personality interests of heroes and martyrs have the dual attributes of public interest and private interests. The core essence of Article 185 of the Civil Code is to safeguard the social public interest, focusing on protecting the personality interests of heroes and martyrs who have become an important part of the social public interest. The connotation of social public interest is uncertain and open, and its connotation will be different in different fields and under different circumstances. The connotation of public interest in article 185 of the Civil Code refers to the common memory, common feelings and national spirit of the nation, the core values of socialism, and the social atmosphere of respecting heroes and martyrs, promoting good and suppressing evil. Smearing heroic and martyr figures is a negation of the core socialist values and the spirit of revolutionary heroism, which can easily affect and impact the value orientation of the masses, especially young people, and damage the national feelings of the broad masses of the people. The defendant has repeatedly published remarks that seriously insult, slander, defame, and blaspheme against the honor and honor of martyr Xiao Siyuan, hurting the common feelings and national spirit of the people in society, damaging the social atmosphere and public morality of respecting heroes and martyrs, promoting good and suppressing evil, and is not conducive to the continuation and inheritance of the common memory of the nation, which is not in line with the core socialist values, and its behavior has constituted an infringement on the public interests of society.
The defendant accepted the verdict in court and said that he had realized his mistake and apologized to all sectors of society. In the future, we will establish a correct outlook on life and the world, and enhance our heartfelt reverence for heroes and martyrs. After the verdict, he will visit the tomb of the Revolutionary Martyrs Monument in Linping District, Hangzhou City, to pay high respect to the martyrs who guard the motherland.
Source: Hangzhou Internet Court