Lawyer handcuffed to basketball post

By Wang Jingqiong (China Daily)
Updated: 2009-07-14 09:28

A lawyer in Kunming, capital of Yunnan province, Monday sued a judge who handcuffed him to a basketball post for 40 minutes last Friday, after the two disagreed on a court record.

He Yunxiang from Kunming-based Zhenxu Law Firm, reportedly refused to sign a court record over a housing property case because he felt it did not accurately reflect his opinion.

His move caused Hong Meng, a judge of the Chengjiang county court, to have the police handcuff the lawyer to the court's basketball post outdoors.

The court's vice-director, Hong Jiajing, learned of the incident and freed He 40 minutes later.

"I submitted a letter of accusation over the issue to the Yunnan provincial procuratorate this morning," He told China Daily on the phone Monday.

"Hong Meng committed illegal imprisonment by getting the police to handcuff me without the court director's approval," the lawyer said.

"That is criminal and I am claiming criminal liability from him."

During the case last Friday, the lawyer had suggested that a woman be included with her husband as defendants because the property in question had both their names on it.

Hong Meng reportedly refused to change the record according to the suggestions of the lawyer, who later refused to sign the document after the proceedings. The judge then asked the police to handcuff He.

The lawyer said "my eyes were wet" as he was being led away by police after the courtroom proceeding.

Pan Wanjiang, the director of the court, called the lawyer and apologized later in the afternoon, but Hong Meng himself reportedly did not speak to He.

The lawyer later posted the accusation letter on Tianya.cn, a popular online bulletin board.

According to Legal Daily, Xu Qianfei, director of Yunnan Provincial Higher People's Court, asked for an immediate investigation of the case, with an investigation team formed by Yuxi intermediate people's court.

The team released a statement last Sunday.

"It is true that Hong Meng, a judge of the Chengjiang county court, took enforcement measures against lawyer He Yuanxiang. Hong Meng did that without permission and did that wrongly," the statement said.

The Yuxi and Chengjiang courts are considering the penalties to be imposed in the case, media reported.

The investigation team also required Hong Meng to apologize to He, but the lawyer is going ahead with his plan to sue the judge.

"The court has a right to investigate the case and Hong Meng, who is like one of their employees. But that has nothing to do with my right to sue him," He said.

He was a criminal judge for 10 years until 2005, when he left the court and became a lawyer in private practice.

"It is the first time I've been treated like that," he said.

"The two policemen took me to the post and handcuffed my right hand to it. They told me not to move and left me at the spot," He wrote in his accusation letter.

"I took my cell phone and took some pictures. But the policemen came out and took my cell phone away, saying that Hong Meng told them to confiscate my phone," He said.