After turning himself in, he was given a mitigated punishment, starting with the case of Yang Zhen, former vice mayor of Deyang, Sichuan

The picture shows the staff of the case trial room of the Sichuan Provincial Discipline Inspection Commission Supervision Commission discussing issues related to Yang Zhen's case. Photo by Hou Rong

Special guests

Yuan Zhen Director of the 14th Discipline Inspection and Supervision Office of the Sichuan Provincial Discipline Inspection Commission

Hu Jiao, Director of the Case Trial Room of the Sichuan Provincial Discipline Inspection Commission

Pu Lin Deputy Director of the Third Procuratorial Department of the People's Procuratorate of Mianyang City, Sichuan Province

Zhang Jianguo, President of the First Criminal Division of the Intermediate People's Court of Mianyang City, Sichuan Province

Editor's Note

This is a typical case of a "key minority" being given a mitigated punishment after turning themselves in. In this case, Yang Zhen was the vice mayor of Deyang City and the secretary of the Zhongjiang County CPC Committee, and he was investigated and punished for serious violations of discipline and law. What are the mitigating or mitigating circumstances for Yang Zhen? How did the procuratorial organs apply the plea leniency system to Yang Zhen? What are the main factors that the court considers when it mitigates the penalty when it decides? We specially invite the staff of relevant units to analyze it.

Basic facts of the case:

Yang Zhen, male, born in August 1962, is a member of the Communist Party of China, a former member of the Party Group and vice mayor of Deyang Municipal Government, Sichuan Province.

From 2001 to 2016, when Yang Zhen served as the secretary of the party committee and director of the management committee of the Jinghu Economic Development Zone in Deyang, the secretary of the party committee and the director of the management committee of the Deyang Economic Development Zone, the secretary of the Zhongjiang County Party Committee, and the vice mayor of Deyang City, yang Zhen took advantage of his position to provide assistance to relevant enterprises or individuals in land sales and engineering construction, and accepted a total of 5.2796 million yuan in property from 13 people, including Zhou, Jiang, Yang and Xie. On August 15, 2019, Yang Zhen voluntarily surrendered to the Sichuan Provincial Discipline Inspection Commission and returned all the money involved in the case.

The public prosecution organ held that Yang Zhen took advantage of his position to seek benefits for others, repeatedly accepting a total of 5.2796 million yuan in property from others, and should be investigated for criminal responsibility for accepting bribes. Combined with the defendant's voluntary surrender, return of all stolen funds, and admission of guilt and acceptance of punishment at the stage of public prosecution, it is recommended that he be sentenced to six years' imprisonment and fined RMB 500,000. Submit to the court for punishment in accordance with law.

Yang Zhen had no objection to the facts of the charges, charges and sentencing recommendations and signed the Affidavit admitting guilt and accepting punishment, nor did he object during the trial.

The defender did not object to the facts and charges of the public prosecution organs accusing Yang Zhen of accepting bribes, but put forward: 1. Yang Zhen had surrendered voluntarily in this case and had returned all the money and materials for violating discipline and law, and he could be given a lenient or mitigated punishment; 2. Yang Zhen's bribery had occurred before the Eighteenth National Congress of the Communist Party of China and had been closed after the Eighteenth National Congress, and there were no aggravating circumstances for asking for bribes; 3. Yang Zhen suffered from various diseases such as diabetes and hypertension, and there were elderly parents in his family to take care of him; and he requested a lenient punishment for Yang Zhen.

Investigation and punishment process:

On August 16, 2019, the Sichuan Provincial Commission for Discipline Inspection and Supervision filed a case to review and investigate Yang Zhen's serious violations of discipline and suspected violations and crimes, and adopted retention measures; on November 4, with the approval of the State Supervision Commission of the Central Discipline Inspection Commission, Yang Zhen was extended to a three-month period of retention.

On January 16, 2020, the Sichuan Provincial Discipline Inspection Commission Supervision Commission decided to transfer Yang Zhen's suspected illegal and criminal cases to the judicial organs, and at the same time reported to the Sichuan Provincial Party Committee that it intended to give Yang Zhen the punishment of expulsion from the party and expulsion from public office; on March 9 of the same year, with the approval of the Sichuan Provincial Party Committee, the Sichuan Provincial Discipline Inspection Commission Supervision Commission gave Yang Zhen the punishment of expulsion from the party and dismissal from public office.

On January 19, 2020, the Sichuan Provincial Commission for Discipline Inspection transferred Yang Zhen's suspected bribery case to the Sichuan Provincial People's Procuratorate for review and prosecution. After the Sichuan Provincial People's Procuratorate designated jurisdiction, the Mianyang Municipal People's Procuratorate handled the case.

On March 4, 2020, the Mianyang Municipal People's Procuratorate filed a public prosecution with the Mianyang Intermediate People's Court for Yang Zhen's crime of accepting bribes.

【First-Instance Judgment】On July 28, 2020, the Mianyang Intermediate People's Court convicted Yang Zhen of accepting bribes in the first instance and sentenced him to five years and six months in prison and a fine of RMB 500,000. The judgment is now in force.

1. How was Yang Zhen's problem clues discovered? What impact does the handling of this case have on the local political ecology, and what enlightenment does it have for standardizing the power of the top leaders in counties and districts?

Yuan Zhen: In January 2019, the Sichuan Provincial Commission for Discipline Inspection received a tip from the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection and the State Supervision Commission to reflect Yang Zhen's relevant problems, and then conducted a preliminary examination. On August 15 of the same year, Yang Zhen took the initiative to surrender to the Sichuan Provincial Discipline Inspection Commission. Yang Zhen confessed that after he realized that the organization had carried out inspections of him, he had been in a state of trepidation, hesitation, and anxiety, and could not sleep soundly, and finally under the anti-corruption and high-pressure deterrence, policy inspiration, and family advice, he finally understood the situation and took the initiative to surrender to the organization.

Yang Zhen was a leading cadre at the departmental level in Sichuan Province who voluntarily surrendered after the Nineteenth National Congress of the Communist Party of China, and his voluntary surrender and confession of guilt was mitigated according to law, which embodies the organization's rescue of cadres who admit their mistakes and repent of their mistakes and correct their mistakes, and embodies the consistent policy of "punishing those who have committed crimes before and after the fact, curing the sick and saving people". After Yang Zhen voluntarily surrendered, a number of cadres in Sichuan Province voluntarily surrendered, achieving good political results. At the same time, the investigation and handling of this case reflects the determination of the Sichuan Provincial Party Committee to unswervingly deepen the anti-corruption struggle and maintain a high-pressure posture. Yang Zhen has been a leading cadre at or above the county level in Deyang for nearly 20 years, and is an "old acquaintance" of local cadres in Deyang; following Yang Zhen's investigation and punishment, the Sichuan Provincial Discipline Inspection Commission Supervision Commission has also investigated and dealt with a number of cadres, including the former mayor, vice mayor, and secretary of the county party committee of Deyang City.

The power of the top leaders in counties and districts is mainly concentrated in the appointment and dismissal of personnel, the disposal of state-owned assets (land and minerals), and the allocation of financial funds, all of which belong to the category of "triple majority", but in collective research, there are still cases in some places where the number one hands engage in "one word and one hall". Yang Zhen has been the number one in the county and district for 11 years, and his main problems have occurred in the disposal of state-owned land and the intervention in the construction of the engineering field, for the following reasons:

Due to the implementation loopholes in the land transfer link, the system is not perfect. The implementation of the system of democratic centralism is not in place, there is a lack of effective supervision over the "key minority," individual leading cadres have interfered in land transfer in violation of the law and accepted huge bribes from it; links such as attracting investment and supporting land are outside the system, and the arbitrariness is too great, and it is impossible to effectively put power into the cage of the system, resulting in the land transfer being decided by a person in charge and the loss of state-owned assets. Therefore, in the course of land transfer, it is necessary to strictly follow the principles of collective discussion, democratic decision-making, and collective control, earnestly strengthen the restraint and supervision of the power of the number one leader, formulate practical rules and regulations for the supporting land links for attracting investment and investment, and reduce the space for rent-seeking power of special affairs offices.

Because the engineering construction management system has not been strictly implemented, especially for sporadic projects and emergency projects, the methods and methods of determining construction units are more arbitrary, and individual leading cadres have interfered in engineering construction projects in violation of the law and accepted huge bribes from them. In this regard, we should strictly implement the bidding system for engineering construction projects, improve the supervision and inspection and accountability mechanism, formulate targeted and operational prevention and control measures for important areas and key positions, improve the construction of a clean government risk prevention and control system, and standardize the operation of power.

2. In terms of the discipline and measurement method, which mitigating or mitigating circumstances of Yang Zhen were identified during the trial of the case?

Hu Jiao: Yang Zhen is one of the earliest departmental-level cadres in Sichuan Province to voluntarily surrender to the supervision organs since the reform of the supervision system. The accurate and proper handling of this case has an important exemplary guiding and promoting role in the investigation and handling of subsequent similar cases and the active and proactive explanation of problems to the organization by leading cadres who have violated discipline and law.

During the review and investigation, Yang Zhen actively cooperated, had a good attitude of admitting guilt, confessed the problems basically the same as the situation verified, and took the initiative to hand over all the money and materials that violated discipline and the law, truthfully confessed the problem of his illegal acceptance of more than 2.8 million yuan from others, and took the initiative to confess the problem of his illegal acceptance of property sent by others totaling more than 2.4 million yuan that the organization had not yet mastered. In view of the relevant circumstances of Yang Zhen's voluntary surrender and active cooperation, the Sichuan Provincial Discipline Inspection Commission Supervision Commission, after careful study, made a comprehensive and objective determination of the relevant circumstances when transferring it to the procuratorial organs for review and prosecution, laying a foundation for the judicial organs to apply a lighter and mitigated punishment to Yang Zhen in the follow-up handling.

In the course of handling the case, it was found that Yang Zhen constituted a voluntary surrender, which not only embodied the requirements of always adhering to seeking truth from facts and strictly following the rules and disciplines and the law, but also fully applied the policy of punishing the former and the latter, treating the sick and saving people, and combining leniency with severity. The accurate characterization and proper handling of this case have played a very good exemplary and leading role, and have realized the integration and maximization of political effects, disciplinary effects and social effects.

3. How to apply the plea leniency system to Yang Zhen during the public prosecution stage?

Pu Lin: First of all, the plea leniency system is a major reform of China's procedural concept and litigation system, and article 15 of the Criminal Procedure Law clearly stipulates that "criminal suspects and defendants who voluntarily and truthfully confess their crimes, admit the facts of the alleged crimes, and are willing to accept punishment may be treated leniently in accordance with law." The "Guiding Opinions on the Application of the Plea Leniency System" of the "Two High Courts and Three Ministries" clearly stipulates the scope and conditions for the application of plea bargaining: "All criminal cases can be applied, and criminal suspects or defendants cannot be deprived of the opportunity to voluntarily admit guilt and accept punishment because of the lightness of the crime, the seriousness of the crime, or the speciality of the crime." Therefore, Yang Zhen's bribery case meets the premise and scope of applying the plea leniency system.

Second, procuratorial organs should perform their leading responsibilities in the plea leniency system. Specifically, in Yang Zhen's case, it is embodied as follows: First, after accepting the case, promptly inform the suspect of the rights and obligations of the plea leniency system, so that they can fully understand the content of the plea leniency system and the legal consequences to be borne. The second is to take the initiative to carry out education and transformation work on admitting guilt and accepting punishment, with the deputy chief procurator in charge conducting face-to-face judicial conversations with suspects, prompting them to admit guilt and accept punishment. The third is to actively carry out equal communication and sentencing consultations, fully listen to the opinions of suspects and defense lawyers, and ensure their voluntary admission of guilt and punishment.

We have put forward a six-year sentencing recommendation for Yang Zhen's bribery case, mainly based on the following considerations: 1. The facts of this case are clear, the evidence is indeed sufficient, Yang Zhen's confession is stable after his return to the case, he admits guilt and accepts punishment, and the possibility of changes in evidence after the prosecution is extremely small, and it is possible to make a recommendation to determine the sentence. 2. The determination of the sentencing recommendation in this case is the result of consultation between the prosecution and defense, and the sentencing recommendation submitted by the procuratorial organ fully considers the facts, circumstances, degree of harm, and legal consequences of the case, and fully listens to the opinions of the suspect and the defender, which is the most direct and full embodiment of the prosecution and defense. 3. Yang Zhen has statutory mitigating circumstances such as voluntary surrender, full return of stolen goods, and a good attitude toward admitting guilt, and the procuratorial organs have made a comprehensive sentencing recommendation of six years' imprisonment compared with the judgments of job-related crimes in Mianyang in the past three years. 4. Determining sentencing recommendations helps to enhance the stability and predictability of the application of plea bargaining. If the procuratorial organ makes a recommendation for a range of sentences, the suspect's expectations for punishment are still unclear, and even if he admits guilt and accepts punishment, he may be dissatisfied with the verdict and cannot achieve the organic unity of political, legal, and social effects.

4. When the court made the judgment, what were the main factors considered in mitigating Yang Zhen's punishment?

Zhang Jianguo: Yang Zhen received a total of 5.2796 million yuan in property, and the crime of accepting bribes was a particularly large amount, and should be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of more than 10 years, life imprisonment or death in accordance with law, and a fine or confiscation of property. The reason for lowering the sentence by one notch and sentencing him to five years and six months in prison is mainly due to the consideration of the following factors:

First, Yang Zhen has the statutory mitigating circumstance of surrender. Yang Zhen once voluntarily surrendered to the Sichuan Provincial Discipline Inspection Commission. After surrendering, Yang Zhen actively cooperated with the investigation, had a good attitude of admitting guilt, truthfully confessed that he had illegally accepted a total of 2.8316 million yuan in property from Zhou, Xie, and Chen, and took the initiative to explain the problem that the Sichuan Provincial Discipline Inspection Commission supervision committee had not yet grasped the problem of illegally accepting a total of 2.448 million yuan in property sent by 10 people, including Jiang Mouquan and Li Moutong, and that he voluntarily handed over all the money and materials that violated discipline and the law.

Second, Yang Zhen voluntarily signed the "Affidavit of Admitting Guilt and Accepting Punishment" during the public prosecution stage, and the procuratorate also put forward a sentencing recommendation. In accordance with the Supreme People's Court's "Guiding Opinions on Sentencing for Common Crimes", for circumstances of voluntary surrender, the base sentence may be reduced by comprehensively considering the motive, time, method, severity of the crime, the degree of truthful confession of the crime, and the performance of repentance, and for the return of stolen goods or compensation, a lenient or mitigated punishment may be given, taking into account the circumstances such as the degree of initiative. According to the "Guiding Opinions on the Application of the Plea Leniency System" of the "Two High Courts and Three Ministries", where a defendant has surrendered voluntarily or confessed, and at the same time admits guilt and accepts punishment, a relatively larger leniency range shall be given within the statutory range of punishment, and after communicating with the procuratorial organs, the sentence shall be adjusted to five years and six months imprisonment and a fine of RMB 500,000. (Reporter Cheng Wei)

Source: China Discipline Inspection and Supervision Daily