Daily People Wan Jialin reports
On the afternoon of March 30, the Shenzhen Intermediate People's Court pronounced a verdict in the second-instance trial of the "parrot case" and sentenced defendant Wang Peng to two years in prison. Xu Xin, Wang Peng's defense lawyer in the case, told the Daily People that in a month and a half, Wang Peng will be able to restore his freedom. Xu Xin "reluctantly accepted" this result, "We have sufficient evidence for Wang Peng's innocence defense, but under the current circumstances, it is difficult to achieve a verdict of innocence." Taking into account the special circumstances of the case, the court made a decision to change the judgment, which was also a compromise. ”
Earlier, defendant Wang Peng's wife, Ren Panpan, told the Daily People, "There is little hope for a verdict of innocence, but I hope that a miracle will happen." If the original judgment is upheld, I will definitely appeal. After the verdict was pronounced, she expressed disappointment that her husband could not return home without guilt.
In May 2016, Wang Peng, a Shenzhen man, was criminally detained on suspicion of "illegally selling rare and endangered wild animals and their products." Police investigations show that of the 6 parrots that Wang Peng has previously sold, 2 are small golden sun parrots, scientifically known as green-cheeked cone-tailed parrots, which belong to protected species. On March 30, 2017, the Bao'an District People's Court of Shenzhen Sentenced Wang Peng to five years in prison and a fine of 3,000 yuan (US$3,000) for illegally selling rare and endangered wild animals. After the first-instance judgment, Wang Peng and his family decided to file an appeal. On November 6, 2017, the second-instance trial of the case was held in the Shenzhen Intermediate Court, and the verdict was not pronounced in court. The verdict was originally scheduled to be pronounced on February 9, 2018, but the Shenzhen Intermediate People's Court also notified that the sentencing time was postponed due to objective reasons.
Ren Pan Pan.
The following is the conversation between the Daily People and Wang Peng's wife, Ren Panpan
If the original judgment is upheld, it will definitely appeal
The Daily People: It has also been said that the possibility of a "not guilty" verdict is relatively small, what is the reason for this?
Ren Panpan: Judging from the current judicial situation, Wang Pengren has been locked up in it for two years, so it is more difficult to correct mistakes, because it may involve matters of accountability and compensation. But in the hearts of those who know about this case, Wang Peng is innocent. The hope of acquittal is relatively slim, but I hope that a miracle will happen, and I hope that the Shenzhen Intermediate Court will have this responsibility.
Daily People: Some people on the Internet say that "Wang Peng has been raised for so long, he must know that he is protecting animals", what do you think?
Ren Panpan: In fact, Wang Peng did not know that this was a "protected" animal, and these parrots were domestically raised, not wild or endangered. There is no evidence that we know this is a protected animal, and rather evidence suggests that we don't know it is a protected animal. I want to explain clearly to those netizens, I don't want them to speak ill of each other. This feeling of being wronged is very uncomfortable, we let go of a good life, but why take the risk.
The personnel of the State Forestry Administration may not be able to distinguish clearly, not to mention the common people, Wang Peng, he knows the technology of breeding, does not have any legal awareness, and does not know those judicial interpretations. Moreover, when I looked for a lawyer for a week at the first trial, many lawyers said that they had never handled such a case, so they could not ask the people to know these things.
People of the Day: From the first trial to the present, what are the ups and downs in your heart in the middle process?
Ren Panpan: It feels like running a marathon, the mood fluctuates very much, disappointment, despair to hope, repeatedly, feeling particularly anxious, very tormented. After experiencing this, my mental endurance will also improve. Wang Peng and I are both foreigners, come to Shenzhen to work, there are no relatives and friends, mainly I am busy with this case, my grandparents will help me take the child well.
Feeding a few birds was sentenced to five years, and I certainly couldn't accept the results of the first trial. Later, Professor Xu Xin and lawyer Si Weijiang intervened, and they helped me analyze the case, and I realized that Wang Peng's behavior did not constitute a crime at all. At the second trial, I reported great hope, because from the perspective of evidence and judicial regulations, it does not constitute a criminal offense, but can only be regarded as an administrative punishment. What's more, the physical evidence in the case was not uniform, and the prosecution had no evidence that the parrots they provided were the ones that Wang Peng sold, and Wang Peng did not identify those parrots.
The second-instance trial was very intense, and the lawyer presented a lot of evidence, but the prosecution wanted to make this an iron case, because the person had been locked up for so long, and if the person was released, he could not give an account to the public security bureau that arrested the person. The second trial was more than eight o'clock in the evening, and the verdict was not pronounced in court, and I was in a state of collapse at that time, and I cried in the face of the media.
Then, I "called once a day", sent Weibo, WeChat, and telephone, ran to the Political and Legal Committee, and through various channels, I wanted to make the verdict pronounced as soon as possible. At that time, my biggest idea was to let them announce the verdict and release people years ago, before the court said that the verdict would be pronounced on February 9, and people around me also told me that they would be stuck at this node a few years ago. A few days ago we went to the courthouse, and my mother-in-law sat in front of the courthouse and cried, saying, "My son has committed some terrible crime and is going to be locked up until now." "The New Year Pass is the most difficult for all the families of unjust cases. My brother got married during the Spring Festival, and on February 10th, I took my child back to my hometown, considering if the sentence was pronounced a few years ago, I would return to Shenzhen, but I never waited. The court reneged and did not give any reason.
Ren Panpan and the child.
Write letters to communicate about your child's growth
People of the Day: How do you explain to your child that you can't see your father during this period?
Ren Panpan: We will not deliberately mention it to the child, if he usually talks about his father, the child will point to the photo next to him. The child is so old and conscious, the neighbor's child calls his father, he also runs to other people's houses to shout, and the children will feel funny. The child's grandmother would pull him back and tell him that it was "uncle" and not "daddy" and would not continue to explain the reason to the child. We couldn't help it, and it was embarrassing. But the next-door neighbor is a colleague who has lived for many years and knows the situation in our family.
People of the Day: How to communicate with Wang Peng about the growth of children?
Ren Panpan: We cannot visit before the judgment takes effect, and we can only communicate by writing letters to each other. He sent the kind of postage stamp letters from the seventies and eighties, the post office wouldn't deliver them so quickly, it was slow, and I had to wait for months to receive them, so our time was always misplaced, the information was not equal, not what I said last time and what he could reply to the next one. The letter is some of the contents of life, and it will not and cannot involve the facts of the case.
People of the Day: Does running for a case have an impact on your usual work?
Ren Panpan: Because I want to run to these places like the court, I have to take frequent leave, and the company is fine, everyone knows our situation, and they all encourage and comfort me. The salary is relatively small, barely supporting the work, otherwise there is no economic resources.