In March 1990, Sun Yuecheng, a villager in Yichuan County, Luoyang City, and two friends brought ancient tiger paintings, jade bracelets, ancient figure paintings, ancient couplets, jade pendants, jade pieces and other "ancestral treasures" to Zhengzhou for appraisal, but when they boarded the train, they were detained by the Luoyang East Railway Station Police Station of the Luoyang Public Security Bureau of the Zhengzhou Railway Public Security Bureau (hereinafter referred to as Luotie Public Security), on the grounds that they were suspected of reselling cultural relics.
Eight days later, Sun Yuecheng was released from the review due to the lack of evidence, and the Luo Tie police returned some of the items, but the tiger painting and jade bracelet were not returned. On January 24, 2005, Sun Yuecheng received a reply from the Luotie Public Security Department saying that Gao Jianjia, deputy director of the Luotie East Railway Station, and Niu Yujie, a police officer, had lost a tiger painting and a jade bracelet that had been seized because they had not managed it in accordance with regulations in the course of handling the case.
In July 2005, Sun Yuecheng filed a lawsuit with the Luoyang City Yinghe Hui Nationality District People's Court, and the court's judgment showed that the Luotie public security continued to detain Sun Yuecheng's belongings after March 27, 1990; the Luotie public security returned Sun Yuecheng's seized tiger painting and a jade bracelet within a time limit, and if it was overdue, it was necessary to compensate Sun Yuecheng for 300,000 yuan.
After the first-instance judgment, both parties to the litigation filed an appeal. In 2007, the Luoyang Intermediate People's Court ruled that the Luotie public security administrative act was illegal and compensated Sun Yuecheng with 1.596 million yuan. After the second-instance judgment, Luo Tie Public Security applied for a retrial, and the Luoyang Intermediate People's Court ruled to revoke the original first- and second-instance judgments and remand them to the Yinghe District Court for a new trial.
In 2016, the Yinghe District Court added a third party to retry the case, and ruled that the Luotie Public Security had violated the law of confiscating the goods, and compensated Sun Yuecheng for various losses totaling 1.87 million yuan, deducting 370,000 yuan that had been executed in 2007, with a balance of 1.5 million yuan and interest.
After the judgment of the Yinghe District Court, both parties and third parties filed an appeal. The Luoyang Intermediate People's Court held that on March 19, 1990, the Luotie public security seized the tiger paintings and jade bracelets involved in the case, and even the subsequent confiscation, which occurred before the promulgation and implementation of the Administrative Procedure Law on October 1, 1990, and the law at that time did not provide for action, so Sun Yuecheng's claim to luotie public security did not fall within the scope of the administrative litigation of the people's court.
The Luoyang Intermediate People's Court ruled to revoke the judgment of the Yinghe District Court and reject Sun Yuecheng's appeal. Subsequently, Sun Yuecheng applied for a retrial. According to Henan Higher People's Court (2019) Yuxing Zai No. 170, the Henan Higher People's Court upheld the administrative ruling of the Luoyang Intermediate Court.
In the past 31 years, in order to recover the seized tiger paintings and jade bracelets, Sun Yuecheng first spent 15 years writing letters to relevant departments to reflect the situation, and then spent 16 years in the Luoyang Yinghe District Court, luoyang intermediate court and even Henan High Court to carry out administrative litigation and civil litigation.
"At present, we have applied for criminal state compensation to the Luoyang Railway Public Security Department on our behalf." Lawyer Zhang Tieyan, Sun Yuecheng's entrusted agent, told the Beijing News that on August 5, 2021, he had mailed the application for state compensation and the power of attorney for criminal compensation cases to the Luoyang Railway Public Security Office. The Luoyang Railway Public Security Department did not make a decision not to accept it within the statutory time limit. According to the relevant provisions of the State Compensation Law, luotie public security shall make a decision on whether to compensate within two months from the date of receipt of the compensation application.
On September 28, 2021, a reporter from the Beijing News called the Luotie Public Security Legal Supervision Detachment, and a police officer surnamed Yang of the department said that it was inconvenient to answer the relevant situation and that his leaders should discuss and make decisions.
On September 30, a reporter from the Beijing News contacted Zhang Hui, deputy director of the Luotie Public Security Department, by telephone and text message several times, who said that he was on a business trip and refused to answer relevant questions.
Sun Yuecheng around 31 years ago. Courtesy of respondents
Taking a train with an "heirloom" was detained on suspicion of reselling cultural relics, and the "cultural relics" were not returned after their release
The court found that on the evening of March 19, 1990, Sun Yuecheng, a native of Yichuan, Luoyang, and his friends Xiong Zhi'an and Zhang Youfeng were waiting at Luoyang East Railway Station with ancient tiger paintings, jade bracelets, jade pendants, jade tablets, and other items.
Sun Yuecheng introduced that on the evening of the 19th, he carried a brown lockbox in his hand and carried a picture scroll cross-body on his back, and when he was preparing to get on the car, he was searched by several plainclothes Luo Tie public security workers. Later, the Luotie public security conducted a custody review on the grounds that the three of them were "suspected of reselling cultural relics" and seized the items carried by the three people.
The Administrative Judgment (2016) Yu 0304 Xingchu No. 12 of the People's Court of Yinghe Hui Nationality District, Luoyang City, Henan Province, records that the items seized include: an ancient tiger painting, a bracelet, an ancient figure painting, a half-paid pair, a jade pendant, and seventeen jade pieces.
"The Crouching Tiger Diagram is Tang Yin's work, which was given to me by my uncle Sun Dehong. The bracelets are gold-encrusted and are ancestral to my family, and these two are the most expensive. Sun Yuecheng said.
Sun Yuecheng described that the Crouching Tiger picture heart is 90 cm wide and 120 cm long, and the surrounding mounting part is damaged, and the painting heart is complete. The painting is a brush ink painting, in which the painting is Crouching Tiger and has no eye. The inscription at the top of the scroll reads: "Years and Years of Jia Shu Tao Yue, Wu County Six Ru Tang Yin". Under the inscription is a seal seal, which is one of the 18 seals of Tang Bohu, and there are more than ten collection chapters under the scroll.
The judgment pointed out that during the internment of Sun Yuecheng and the other three people, luo tie public security had entrusted the Luoyang City Cultural Relics Shop to conduct an appraisal, and the items identified were Xiong Zhi'an and Zhang Youfeng's, but the tiger paintings and jade bracelets carried by Sun Yuecheng were not included in the appraisal.
After eight days of investigation, on March 27, 1990, luo tie public security issued a document to lift the custody review of Sun Yuecheng and three other people. The court found that on April 16 of that year, Sun Yuecheng went to Luotie Public Security to collect some of the seized items, but the tiger painting and jade bracelet were not returned.
The Luoyang Public Security Department of the Zhengzhou Railway Public Security Bureau issued a notice of dismissal of Sun Yuecheng's review. Courtesy of respondents
"Cultural relics" were lost, and police officers who seized the items were accused of violating the law and falsifying
After this, Sun Yuecheng began a long road of demand.
Sun Yuecheng recalled that on April 16, 1990, he went to Luotie Public Security to ask Gao Jianjia, deputy director of the Luoyang East Railway Station Police Station of Luotie Public Security, who was hosting the case at the time, for the detained items, but Gao Jianjia only returned couplets, jade pieces and other items, but did not return the tiger paintings and gold-encrusted jade bracelets with higher value. "Gao Jianjia said that the remaining cultural relics were all in Niu Yujie, a police officer at the East Railway Station police station, and during my detention, it was mainly Niu Yujie who was responsible for making notes."
Subsequently, Sun Yuecheng repeatedly asked Gao and Niu for tiger paintings and jade bracelets. On April 30, 1990, the Luoyang East Railway Station Police Station of Luotie Public Security issued a certificate to Sun Yuecheng, which read: "Sun Yuecheng carried an ancient tiger painting (which has been damaged) on March 19. One jade bracelet (broken into two pieces) is confiscated. ”
In 1990, the Luoyang East Railway Station Police Station of Luotie Public Security issued a certificate confiscating tiger paintings and jade bracelets. Courtesy of respondents
Sun Yuecheng said, "The framing part of the perimeter of the Crouching Tiger map is damaged, and the painting heart is complete. The jade bracelet is two curved semicircle links of the gold bracelet, the interface is a gold-encrusted animal head bites each other, when worn to open, not broken, is the design shape. ”
From 1991 to 2005, Sun Yuecheng repeatedly went to the Luotie public security and relevant government departments to report the situation and ask for the items that had been "confiscated", but they did not return. Sun Yuecheng said: In 1999, the Discipline Inspection Commission of Luo tie public security had called him to inform him that Niu Yujie and Gao Jianjia had violated discipline and that Luo Tie public security had given them warnings and demerit punishments. However, there is no explanation for the seized items.
It was not until 2005 that Sun Yuecheng received a formal written response. On January 24, 2005, the Luotie Public Security Bureau gave Sun Yuecheng a reply: On March 19, 1990, Gao Jianjia, deputy director of Luoyang East Railway Station, and Niu Yujie, a police officer, lost a tiger painting and a jade bracelet that had been seized because they had not managed it in accordance with regulations in the course of handling the case. Among them, the jade bracelets and ancient paintings issued by Gao Jianjia in the name of Luo Tie Public Security confiscated and handed in were fraudulent acts. In this regard, the Luotie Public Security Discipline Inspection Commission has filed a case for investigation and given corresponding punishments to the responsible persons.
The reply also said that the Luo Tie public security believes that Gao and Niu violated the regulations and caused the loss of jade bracelets and tiger paintings, and should be compensated, but the specific amount of compensation needs to be in accordance with laws and regulations, and hopes that Sun Yuecheng will solve it through judicial procedures.
On January 24, 2005, Luo Tie Public Security replied to Sun Yuecheng: The jade bracelets and ancient paintings issued by Gao Jianjia in the name of Luo Tie Public Security were confiscated and handed over. Courtesy of respondents
The court found that the lost "cultural relics" were worth more than one million
In July 2005, Sun Yuecheng filed a lawsuit with the Luoyang Yinghe Hui District People's Court. After trial, the court held that after the Luo tie public security review of Sun Yuecheng's custody and examination with his family heirloom "treasures", there was no sufficient evidence to prove that Sun Yuecheng had reselled cultural relics and privately operated cultural relics, and should make a legal disposition of the seized items when lifting the custody review, and the Luo Tie public security's behavior of returning only some of Sun Yuecheng's belongings did not conform to the provisions of the law and infringed on Sun's legitimate rights and interests. To this end, Sun Yuecheng demanded that the Luo Tie public security return the items, which should be supported, and if they could not be returned, they should be compensated.
The Yinghe District Court ruled that the Luotie Public Security Bureau's continued seizure of Sun Yuecheng's belongings after March 27, 1990 was illegal; the Luotie Public Security Returned Sun Yuecheng's seized tiger painting and a jade bracelet within a time limit, and if it was overdue, it was necessary to compensate Sun Yuecheng for 300,000 yuan.
After the first-instance judgment, both parties to the litigation filed an appeal. According to the Luoyang Intermediate People's Court's (2007) Luo Xingzhong No. 59 Administrative Judgment, the Luoyang Intermediate People's Court ruled that Luo Tie's public security administrative act was illegal and compensated Sun Yuecheng with 1.596 million yuan.
Regarding the value of tiger paintings and jade bracelets, Sun Yuecheng provided evidence that Hu Junzhou, a former cultural relics expert in Luoyang City, had identified the testimony of tiger paintings; and the self-employed Pan Zhanwei confirmed that Sun held the gold set on the jade bracelet weighing more than 150 grams.
On June 26, 2007, in its application for retrial, luotie public security submitted a new piece of evidence claiming to be "enough to change the original judgment"—a proof of the value of tiger paintings from the Luoyang Cultural Relics Store.
The certificate that the payment was made on March 30, 1990 and the unit of payment was the Luoyang Cultural Relics Store showed that the jade bracelet and calligraphy sent by the Luoyang Railway Public Security Bureau East Station Police Station were all imitations after identification by our station. ...... A severely damaged tiger painting is a general work with no preservation value. However, the retrial court did not accept the validity of this evidence.
Zhang Tieyan said that the evidence of the compensation obligatory organ and the compensation requester on the value of the tiger painting was insufficient, and neither party had appraised the value of the tiger painting through a legal appraisal institution designated by the judicial organ. In a state compensation case, evidence on the determination of the value of the seized property shall be provided by the organ obligated to make compensation. In this case, the tiger painting has been seized by the Luo Tie public security, and they should provide evidence to prove the value of the tiger painting. "Even if the property involved in the case has no value, the Luotie public security should return it."
The court held that the value of the "lost" tiger paintings and jade bracelets should be priced with reference to the auction price of the relevant cultural relics in the same period. According to a 2016 judgment by the Yinghe District Court, the last price for tiger paintings was 1.5 million yuan and the jade bracelet was 220,000 yuan.
According to a 2016 judgment by the Yinghe District Court, the last price for tiger paintings was 1.5 million yuan and the jade bracelet was 220,000 yuan. Screenshot of the verdict
31 years of unsuccessful recovery, has applied for state compensation
After the second-instance judgment, upon the application of Luo Tie Public Security, the Luoyang Intermediate People's Court made the (2007) Luo Xing Zaizi No. 12 Ruling, revoking the original first-instance and second-instance judgments and remanding it to the Yinghe District Court for retrial.
In the course of the retrial, there were several civil lawsuits over the ownership of tiger paintings, and eight relatives of Sun Dehong, including Sun Dehong, the son of Sun Dehong, the original owner of tiger paintings, filed a lawsuit to the local court for the confirmation of the rights of tiger paintings.
At that time, Sun Dehong had died and did not have a will. In 2014, the Luoyang Intermediate People's Court made a final judgment on the confirmation of the rights of tiger paintings, and there was no legal basis for the request of eight people in Sun School to confirm the ownership of tiger paintings, and their legitimate rights and interests could be remedied through other channels.
Sun Dehong issued a certificate before his death that he had given the tiger painting to Sun Yuecheng. Courtesy of respondents
The eight people sued for the rights and interests of tiger painting, which is also related to the Luo Tie public security. According to the case materials, on August 18, 2007, there was a certificate record signed and handprinted by Sun Xuezhong: In early August 2007, four people from Luo Tie's public security came to him to learn about the tiger painting, and gave him a box of milk and a cigarette, and invited him to the hotel for dinner. During this period, a police officer surnamed Su asked him whether there was Tang Yin's seal on the tiger painting, and if he said there was, the state would compensate Sun Yuecheng, and if not, the compensation would be given to him. Sun Xiaozhong admitted that because of the lack of money, he told a lie and admitted against his will that there was no inscription or inscription on the tiger painting.
In 2016, the Yinghe District Court added eight people from Sun School as a third person and tried it again. According to (2016) Yu 0304 Xingchu No. 12, the court ruled that the Luotie Public Security had illegally seized Sun Yuecheng's belongings after March 27, 1990; the Luotie Public Security Should Compensate Sun Yuecheng for the loss of "Ancient Tiger Paintings", the loss of jade bracelets, and the loss of recovered items, totaling 1.87 million yuan, deducting 370,000 yuan that had been executed in 2007, with a balance of 1.5 million yuan and interest.
According to (2016) Yu 03 Xing Zhong No. 280, in accordance with the Administrative Procedure Law, the Interpretation of the Supreme People's Court on Application and other relevant provisions, the Luoyang Intermediate Court ruled to revoke the (2016) Yu 0304 Xingchu No. 12 Judgment of the Yinghe District Court and reject Sun Yuecheng's appeal.
Subsequently, Sun Yuecheng applied for a retrial. According to Henan Higher People's Court (2019) Yuxing Zai No. 170, the Henan Higher People's Court upheld the administrative ruling of the Luoyang Intermediate Court.
In the 14 years from July 2005 to December 2019, after multiple rounds of trials such as administrative litigation and civil litigation, first instance, second instance, remand for retrial, and retrial, Sun Yuecheng received a total of 17 judgment documents, and has not received the compensation he expected.
On August 5, 2021, Sun Yuecheng entrusted a lawyer to mail the application for state compensation in the criminal compensation case, the power of attorney, etc. to the Luoyang Railway Public Security Department, and after inquiry by the lawyer, the Luotie Public Security had signed for it, and the Luotie Public Security did not make a decision not to accept it within the statutory time limit.
Zhang Tieyan, a lawyer representing Sun Yuecheng, introduced that Sun Yuecheng's claim belongs to a case that claims that legal property should be protected by law and should be compensated by the organs obligated to compensate, and the State Compensation Law defines two types of administrative compensation and criminal compensation, and the Henan Provincial Higher People's Court found that the seizure of goods by Luo Tie public security does not fall within the scope of administrative compensation, and the judgment has taken effect, the case is applicable to criminal compensation.
According to the relevant provisions of the State Compensation Law, luotie public security shall make a decision on whether to compensate within two months from the date of receipt of the compensation application. On the morning of September 28, 2021, a reporter from the Beijing News called the Luotie Public Security Legal Supervision Detachment on whether the Luotie Public Security decided to compensate and how to respond to the previous case, and a police officer surnamed Yang of the department said that it was inconvenient to answer the relevant situation and that its leaders should discuss and make decisions.
On September 30, the Beijing News reporter contacted Zhang Hui, deputy director of the Luotie Public Security Department, by telephone and text message, and showed him the information of the reporter's ID, zhang Hui said that he was on a business trip and refused to answer relevant questions.
Zhang Tieyan said that if the Luotie public security does not make a decision on whether to compensate within the statutory time limit, its client may apply to his superior unit for reconsideration of administrative compensation in accordance with the law. The case is currently in the process of state reparations.
Beijing News reporter Wu Xiaofei
Edited by Liu Qian
Proofreading Liu Baoqing