将自己的留言簿迁移到groups-beta.google.com后,刚开始发现清静了很多,但不久以后就发现比原来更加严重的comment spam 比MT的留言簿更是有过之而无不及:
不得不将Google Groups中的很多留言模式设置成了需要批准才能发布,回复的时候也很不方便,自己的回复还需要自己批准一下……
She Xianglin's case was the catalyst for extensive discussion about the use of torture in criminal investigations (She eventually confessed to his wife's murder), the independence of the judiciary (the Hubei provincial party committee interfered to set She's sentence at 15 years without going through the necessary court hearings) and compensation for mental suffering (She received compensation for lost wages, but his mental anguish claim was rejected).
How has She been doing these six months? Just yesterday he won another judgment, this time for 450,000 yuan, bringing the total compensation for his family (his brother spent time in prison as well after advocating for him) to 700,000 yuan.
But according to a report in Oriental Outlook magazine, it's not been easy for him. The local government keeps close tabs on his movements, and his phone is likely tapped. Translated below is the result of the magazine's investigation.
When She Xianglin's phone rings, it plays a pleasant ringtone: "Maybe you don't understand / after you said you loved me / stars suddenly shone / in my sky…"
"It was my daughter who set it up. I still don't know," She Xianglin said.
Oriental Outlook journalists arrived once again at She Xianglin's home in Yanmenkou town in Jinshang County, Hubei. This time, She Xianglin has been out of prison for more than six months.
Not long ago, She Xianglin finally got compensation of 250,000 yuan from the mid-level People's Court of Jingmen City, Hubei, for infringement on his personal liberty. Before this, he had received 200,000 from the Yanmenkou township government in compensation for his suffering.
"Sometimes, I really feel that these five months have been longer than the 4009 days I spent inside," She Xianglin said. The "inside" he mentions refers to his days in prison. She Xianglin avoided mentioning the word "prison" throughout his interview.
I respect reporters above all now
At around 6am on 1 April, She Xianglin walked out of the Miaozi Lake prison in Shayang County where he had served his sentence, and was greeted by a throng of waiting reporters.
On 11 November 1994, She Xianglin was arrested by the Jingshan County police on suspicion of murdering his wife. After four verdicts at three court levels, She Xianglin was sentenced to 15 years in prison, but on 28 March, 2005, his wife Zhang Zaiyu, "murdered" by She, suddenly turned up…
This strange miscarriage of justice caught the attention of the media. During the several days before She Xianglin was to be released, the hotels in Jingshan County and Shayang County were crawling with journalists.
"In the past I always respected police, but now I respect journalists. When I see you, I have a warm feeling," She Xianglin said. Before he was arrested, She was engaged as a policeman at one of the stations in Jingshan County.
"If it wasn't for the media reports, I really don't know whether this injustice could have been cleared up." After She Xianglin left prison, the local rumors, and even a police officer, claimed that while She may not have killed Zhang Zaiyu, this did not prove that the woman's body found at that time had not been killed by him. "If the media had not paid close attention to this, I may have been pulled back inside."
With the help of a reporter in Yichang City, Hubei, She Xianglin's 18 year-old daughter went to study at the Three Gorges Professional Institute of Technology. She Xianglin told Oriental Outlook that his daughter had just given him a phone call, saying that she was class leader, and was studying to become a party functionary. "She says that she's busy now with frequent organizational meetings, and has to stay up late at night to prepare chalkboard reports."
When he spoke about his daughter, She Xianglin was obviously very excited. "If she wants to continue studying, when she graduates from technical high school, I'll send her to college."
She Xianglin has a large smoking habit; during the three hour interview, he smoked half a pack. "They're from a reporter from Anhui. He said the flavor of these cigarettes was very smooth, well suited to me."
He often dreams of the mother who died because of him
Compared with his appearance during his interview with Oriental Outlook just after he got out of prison on 1 April, She Xianglin has greatly calmed down. In a small restaurant in Yanmenkou township, She Xianglin drank as he talked to the reporter. His older brother, younger sister, and her husband came along. She's brother-in-law said that once when the county executed someone, he heard that it was She, but when he took a cart to collect the body, he found that it wasn't. Hearing this, She Xianglin laughed loudly.
During the interview, She Xianglin's mobile phone was continually receiving messages. Most were good wishes from friends. When he looked at the messages, She Xianglin seemed to want to glue his eyes to the mobile phone. Having worn manacles while locked up in the guardhouse with hardcore criminals, She Xianglin's body still bears the scars of his time: his eyesight has gotten poor and his calves have atrophied. "In the summer, my upper body gets so hot I sweat, but my lower body still is chilly."
"I still don't feel right about visiting the doctor. I need do something in payback," She said. "My mother died because of me, my brother was held for 41 days because he appealed my sentence, and witnesses for me were held for no reason. I need to do something to compensate."
She Xianglin has dreamt of his mother many times since his release from prison. "Once, I was going down an out of the way road, and I saw my mother on the roadside selling old-style cloth shoes. But in my dream she was blind. I walked up to her and I said I was She Xianglin. She stretched out her hands to touch my head, and then I woke up crying. I don't know why, but when I dream about my mother, she is blind most of the time."
"Everyone has just one mother," She Xianglin said. What he regrets the most is that his mother never took a photograph. "But I still remember very clearly what she looked like."
He suspects he is being eavesdropped on
Aside from dreams about his mother, most of She Xianglin's dreams take place in prison. "I often dream that I'm lifting cement or moving stones." Although bringing up the past is "shocking," these kinds of events often appear in his dreams. "I feel like I'm still on the inside."
One major thing that makes She Xianglin feel like he is "still on the inside" is that whenever he goes out in public he is the focus of everyone's attention. What makes him feel even stranger is that everything he does is followed very closely by the government. "Once, I was preparing to go to Changsha to do a TV program, and I had just walked out the door when a government official called on the telephone asking me where I was going."
When Oriental Outlook was interviewing She Xianglin, this strange situation happened again. The reporter had just arrived and had not yet sat down when an official from the local government called to ask She what media he had accepted an interview from. When Oriental Outlook left, She Xianglin received another telephone call from the government leader, asking him very specific questions about what went on.
"I think that my phone has been tapped," She said. "I'm under a lot of stress right now, and I only sleep three or four hours a night."
She Xianglin is renting a room in town now, and his room has one bed. When his daughter comes home he has to sleep on the floor.
In regard to the 250,000 yuan he received in compensation from the state for the 4009 days he was unjustly held in prison, She said, "This compensation was calculated according to the average salary for a day's work. But a day's work is only eight hours long, and I was held for 24 hours a day on the inside."
According to his lawyer Zhou Feng, they had originally asked for 3.85 million yuan in compensation from the Jingzhou City Court as compensation for mental pain and suffering, and just over 250,000 for limitation of personal freedom. "But the pain and suffering claim was rejected as having no legal basis, so in the end the local government gave 200,000 in living assistance."
As for the ongoing arbitration with the police department over injury compensation, She Xianglin can only wait until the police department "discovers a conscience." "The media reports have dropped off, so they aren't in a hurry."
He wants to do something for the unjustly accused
On his future plans, She Xianlin is at a loss. "Do you think I can still do some kind of work? I still am living in the world of a dozen years ago. There are lots of new things that I haven't the slightest clue about." However, She said that he's not going to sit around at home. When the compensation arrives from the police department, he will bring his father to live in town and find a wife for his youngest brother, who is 35 this year. Because of the affairs surrounding She Xianglin, his brother had to take care of She's daughter, and has yet to find a wife.
"Zhang Zaiyu calls me often and asks me about how my life is. She wants me to get married and live a normal life," She said. Zhang Zaiyu, She's former wife, left home eleven years ago and went to Shandong.
She Xianglin's daughter is also urging him to find a wife. "My daughter often says that I am still young and I ought to find someone, but right now I don't think I could handle it."
She Xianglin admits that he often finds his 18 year old daughter a stranger. "Her experience growing up is a complete blank to me. These few months I've been working hard to establish communication, but there's still a distance there."
The question She Xianglin most often asks his daughter is "How did you spend these past ten years?" but his daughter always says, "Living is living. What else is there to say?" Compared to other people her age, She Xianglin's daughter seems much more mature.
She Xianglin's youngest brother told Oriental Outlook that when She's daughter was 13 he took her to Guangdong to find work. "Because it was child labor, I had to get a fake ID for her."
Over the past few months, one other thing She Xianglin has been doing quite a bit of has been giving interviews to reporters from across the country. "I really want to do something for the unjustly accused. I understand their powerlessness, but I feel that I have enough feeling but not enough strength." But one thing gives She Xianglin a sense of success: an old friend had been spending his days with shady characters, draining his family's savings and driving his wife to ask for a divorce. But at She's urging, this friend has made the decision to abandon his bad habits.
"We can finally walk with our heads up"
She Xianglin says that he has often received phone calls from international reporters during the past few months. They ask for interviews, and some even promise to give him financial assistance. "Some even more than the state compensation." But he never agreed, saying, "Family matters shouldn't be aired outside."
She Xianglin's older brother She Suolin was held for 41 days. He hasn't paid much attention to whether he could receive compensation. "That Xianglin was able to return home is already the best thing that could happen. We can finally walk with our heads up."
During his sentence in prison, She Xianglin's family was the object of criticism and mockery by neighbors for being the relatives of a murderer.
She Suolin works as a mail carrier for the Yamenkou township post office. Each month he receives a salary of almost 1000 yuan. "My work is not too hard right now. Even though Xianglin's case brought me considerable hardship, it's over now, and whether we get compensation, or how much we get, depends on the conscience of the government."
Those involved in the She case have mentioned "conscience" several times in their interviews. They place more of their hopes on this extra-legal idea.
One other person hurt in the She case, Ni Leping, was excited when he received the interview call. "Is there a breakthrough in the compensation affair?" When he learned that the lawyer was in discussions with the police department, Ni Leping seemed disappointed. "I hope that they can come to a conclusion soon. My wife's health is getting poorer by the day, and I don't know how long she can wait."
Ni Leping's wife, Nie Maiqing, had testified to the police department that she had "seen She Xiangling's 'murdered' wife Zhang Zaiyu," and was locked up for three months. The shock gave her a heart attack, and now when she sees strangers she gets extremely agitated.
How will the region escape the shadow of the She case?
An individual with the Jingshan County police department told Oriental Outlook that they are trying to wrap up the She case as quickly as possible.
According to previous media reports, after She Xianglin was released from jail, the party committee of Hubei Province along with the Hubei provincial examiner's office formed a committee to rectify the She Xianglin case. The group started an investigation of the 28 police officers involved with the original case, and called seven officers including one assistant director from the Jingshan police department to Wuhan for interviews. Unexpectedly, ahead of the review period, one of the police officers involved at the time committed suicide.
"He was just a common policeman that year. His suicide is unbelievable," She Xianglin said.
This affair further complicated the negative image given to Hubei by the She case. In a recent interview Oriental Outlook conducted in Hubei regarding the sudden death of an upper-level official who was under investigation by the examiner's office, an official with the Hubei provincial examiner's office said that the She case had brought a large amount of pressure on the Hubei justice system.
Reportedly, after the She Xianglin's case occurred, the Hubei provincial justice system undertook a specialized improvement program, finding 27 types of problems that existed in the system and pinpointing leaders, responsibilities, and time limits to receive a thorough rectification.
On 17 August, Hubei opened a symposium on constructing a regulated system of enforcement. Zheng Shaosan, the secretary of the Hubei party committee and legal committee, urged that they "plug holes and prevent cases like She Xianglin's from happening again."
According to media reports, in the wake of revelations of the She case and similar cases, the high examiner's office has clearly indicated that it would make the investigation of forced confessions gained by law authorities a serious priority. China Law University Litigation Research Center has organized a trial public security interrogation system set up at the three police department levels across the country. During the interrogation of suspects by investigators, lawyers are allowed to be present for the duration and the whole process can be video and audio taped.
When Oriental Outlook left Jingshan County, it learned that a media entity from Hubei province had recently interviewed She Xianglin. This was the first provincial media interview since the local media was banned from reporting on the She case. What makes it worth mentioning is that this interview was organized by local officials.