In 1982, in the auditorium of the Shantou Prefectural Party Committee in Guangdong Province, a man wearing a Mao suit attracted the attention of the audience. Despite the shackles on his hands, all eyes were on him.
He is Wang Zhong, secretary of the Haifeng County Party Committee in Guangdong Province, who stood in the dock of the court because he was charged with ** crime.
After interrogation by the court, Wang Zhong was sentenced to death for his crimes and his admission to guilt. However, he expressed dissatisfaction with the verdict and appealed. However, after a final ruling by the Guangdong Provincial High Court, his appeal was dismissed and the original judgment was upheld.
This case attracted great attention from the first secretary of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, and although some people tried to intercede for Wang Zhong, ** insisted that Wang Zhong's actions could not be forgiven.
Dressed in a Mao suit, with thick black hair and a long face and straight nose, Wang Zhong did not look like a criminal, but revealed an official authority. However, it was such a person who embarked on the road of crime because of a 17-inch black-and-white TV.
Originally from Tianjin, he joined the army in 1947 and joined the Chinese Communist Party in the same year, after which he held several positions in the land reform. In 1976, he was sent to Haifeng County, Guangdong Province as secretary.
Wang Zhong once worked in a place where three places bordered, it was a poor and backward place, and the leaders sent by the organization changed one after another, but none of them were willing to actually work.
Wang Zhong has worked in this environment for a long time, although he once sincerely served the people, but under the impact of reform and opening up, his greed was hooked, and he gradually lost himself in the ** of money.
In fact, Wang Zhong embarked on the path of crime only because of a television set. In the autumn of 1979, a local broadcaster of SITC decided to look for a relationship through the back door in order to reunite with his family in Hong Kong as soon as possible.
He first met Wang Zhong through village cadres, and then met Wang Zhong's wife Chen Qiaolan and son Wang Jiancheng.
After Wang Zhong and Chen Qiaolan got acquainted, the broadcaster asked Chen Qiaolan if she had a TV at home. Chen Qiaolan thought that this was a normal inquiry, so she replied no. After hearing this, the announcer ascertained Wang Zhong's family situation, and the next day he made an appointment with Wang Jiancheng to go to a place on the highway from Shanwei to Haicheng, and immediately bought a 17-inch black-and-white television and delivered it to Wang Zhong's home.
In that era, if there was a 17-inch black-and-white TV at home, it was equivalent to having the title of "10,000 yuan household" of the year, and for ordinary families, buying such a TV was a huge expense.
Faced with what he could obtain as long as he used his power, Wang Zhong was moved, and he immediately agreed, approved the broadcaster's application report for leaving the port to the Public Security Bureau, and accepted the gift.
At first, Wang Zhong was worried that he would be discovered, but when he found out that no one knew about it at all, he became bold. Soon, a teacher from SITC wanted to go through the formalities for a family of five to go to Hong Kong in advance, so he sent a color TV and a cassette recorder to Wang Zhong, and he accepted all the orders.
These precedents became the fuse for Wang Zhong***, and since then, he has repeatedly issued "instructions" and approved notes to the county public security bureau to help bribe-givers to actively carry out activities, and the criminal behavior has become more unscrupulous.
Wang Zhong once offered to the family of a Hong Kong businessman to go through the formalities for them to go to Hong Kong, as long as they could give him a refrigerator. In 1981, when he heard that he was going to be transferred out of SITC, he took his two sons and son-in-law to Shenzhen and asked for a color TV from a Hong Kong businessman again.
Later, China began to reform and open up, and the economic network was opened up all of a sudden, and Wang Zhong served as the commander-in-chief of the anti-smuggling command. Although it was reported at that time that he was extremely concerned about the seizure of smuggling boats by anti-smuggling boats at sea, and even if he was resting at home, he would rush to the scene as soon as possible, but in the eyes of people who did not know, they probably thought that Wang Zhong was a good official who strictly investigated smuggling.
However, in fact, every time he arrived at the scene, he was just to unscrupulously select smuggled items and take back to his home what could be sold for a large price. In the end, even his wife and children relied on the power of his family to openly carry anti-smuggled goods, and then make money by reselling.
Wang Zhong embezzled the seized goods, was extremely greedy, and was finally investigated and punished. In the upsurge of Haifeng County's crackdown on smuggling and trafficking, Wang Zhong collected a large amount of property, and the anti-smuggling warehouse became his treasure house.
However, his actions soon aroused the discontent of the masses, and his deeds were eventually revealed and he was suspended for investigation. In the course of the investigation, the public security department intercepted a huge smuggling boat, and after learning the news, Wang Zhong immediately rushed to the scene, rummaged around, and finally transferred a pile of items to his car.
He and his wife dealt with it until dawn, and their greedy nature was exposed.
Wang Zhong alone took away a large number of watches, tape recorders, and other items from the anti-smuggling warehouse in Shanwei Town, and his actions seriously damaged the atmosphere in Haifeng County, and the problem of smuggling along the coast became more and more serious.
The inaction of these corrupt cadres and the fact that some anti-smuggling personnel also violated the law by enforcing the law have also led to the emergence of Haifeng County, which has become a well-known private market for a while, and some people have even ironically described Haifeng as an "international market in the Far East."
Such a situation made SITC notorious, and the masses wrote letters to report and expose it. In order to investigate the situation, more than 100 procurators were dispatched. However, Wang Zhong is a very cunning man, he is good at covering up his crimes, and he is good at buying people's hearts.
He once took out four pieces of "plum blossom" watches and four "Inna" watches, and said to the warehouse staff: "You have worked hard, and each person will be rewarded with two pieces." On another occasion, he took 13 Sanyo tape recorders and gave one to each of the staff present, and he took one himself.
For those who hesitated to ask for it, he patted his chest and said, "What are you afraid of, this is my reward for you." ”
In a warehouse full of clothes in Haifeng County, Wang Zhong once boldly proposed a distribution plan: "I take 60% of the county's money, and you take 40%." ”
At that time, there were three staff members who were deeply appreciated by Wang Zhong, and before he left SITC, he specially provided a recruitment quota for each person, although this channel was abnormal, but in the end due to the resistance of the masses, it did not succeed.
In addition to embezzling smuggled goods, Wang Zhong also used his power to arrange his family members to important positions and participate in illegal activities together. His wife, Chen Qiaolan, who had worked in Chaoyang County due to voluntary resignation, later came to SITC, and Wang Zhong not only helped her resume her position, but also made her the deputy director of the county cultural center and transferred to the Shantou District Civil Affairs Office.
In addition, he also arranged for his children to be transferred to the political and legal departments, and let them all become cadres, making the family a "political and legal family". However, in fact, Wang Zhong's family is a "criminal family", and they use the power in their hands to frantically embezzle property and break the law.
Their home became a market for smuggling trade, where all sorts of people traded.
However, Wang Zhong and his family's disregard for the law will eventually lead to judgment and their crimes will be brought to light. In January 1980, Wang Zhong's son, Wang Jiancheng, tried to transport the smuggled goods to Chaoyang Xiashan, but was unexpectedly found out by the person in charge when he passed the roadcard of the Haicheng Town Industrial and Commercial Administration Office in Haifeng County.
The shipment included 132 watches, a large quantity of imported clothing, fabrics and furniture. After Wang Jiancheng's goods were discovered, Wang Zhong was in Guangzhou for a meeting, and after learning the news, he immediately rushed home to discuss with his family how to deal with it.
They decided to take advantage of this opportunity to transport the smuggled goods to Shantou and sell them to the relevant units according to the inspected bills, and then return to Chaoyang to confide in the smugglers about the inspection situation.
However, this time, the facts of Wang Zhong's crime were not so easy to cover up. In March 1980, the higher-level authorities finally discovered clues about his crime, and the Shantou Prefectural Committee decided to suspend him from his post and put him under investigation.
Wang Zhong thought he was well hidden, but he refused to admit the problem, and even held several family meetings in an attempt to use his relatives to transfer his stolen money. More than a dozen of his relatives helped him hide the stolen money, and during the course of the investigation, a search of his relative's home was found worth 450,000 yuan of stolen money.
In the course of the investigation, Wang Siji, the keeper of the anti-smuggling warehouse in Shanwei Town, provided two account books to the case-handling organs. One is to record all the materials leaving the warehouse, and the other is a ledger that he made from memory.
Because Wang Zhong has taken various materials from the warehouse irregularly in the past few years, the ledger provided by Wang Siji has become very important evidence. This ledger records a total of 128 watches taken by Wang Zhong in chronological order, and in order to verify their authenticity, the investigators verified them one by one with the other people who took the materials recorded in the ledger.
After investigation and evidence collection, Wang Zhong's receipt of materials was consistent with the records in the small ledger, and some people confirmed that Wang Siji was seen registering with a stamped book.
Chen Shibo recalled that in the course of the investigation of Wang Zhong's case, although the road was far away, they set off as soon as they found new evidence, regardless of their hard work. Thanks to the joint efforts of the Guangdong Provincial Procuratorate and the Shantou District Procuratorate Branch, a large number of facts about Wang Zhong's crimes were revealed.
In August 1982, Wang Zhong was arrested in accordance with the law. Although his home is full of various items, the law does not allow mercy. **Personally instructed to search his home.
According to statistics, between September 1979 and July 1981, he accepted bribes from Hong Kong businessmen and people who applied to go to Hong Kong, totaling 6 television sets, 2 cassette recorders, and 1 refrigerator, equivalent to a total amount of about 11,000 yuan.
From July 1980 to August 1981, Wang Zhong served as the commander-in-chief of the anti-smuggling command, and he used his power to embezzle a large amount of smuggled goods, including 233 watches, 17 cassette recorders, one television, two fans, etc., equivalent to a total amount of more than 58,000 yuan.
This number is not much now, but in the early days of reform and opening up, it was absolutely shocking. Comparing the income of ordinary cadres in those years, I am afraid that it will take 100 years of salary for a cadre to reach it.
People's Court Daily reported that before **, the judge interrogated Wang Zhong six times, but Wang Zhong was extremely uncooperative and denied the facts of his crime.
In the face of iron-clad facts, he also pretended not to know and did not understand to escape the facts. Wang Zhong claimed that some of the materials were bought on behalf of the leaders of the higher-level organs, and the other part was bought by himself, but because he didn't bring any money at the time, he kept the accounts first, and later asked his daughter to give some of the money, and the rest of the money was not given yet.
During the fourth interrogation, Wang Zhong admitted that he had lied in his previous confession, but he still refused to admit most of the facts of the crime, and his attitude of admitting guilt was extremely bad.
Chen Shibo recalled that they had told Wang Zhong that even if he did not admit it, he could still be convicted as long as there was sufficient evidence. However, Wang Zhong remained stubborn. The main reason why Wang Zhong firmly denied it was because of his luck mentality, he thought that he had transferred the stolen goods to the homes of relatives and established an offensive and defensive alliance with the relevant personnel, so that the investigators would not be able to find evidence and thus could not convict him.
However, after the interrogation, investigators interrogated his wife, Chen Qiaolan. During that time, the investigators worked around the clock in Chaozhou, interrogating Chen Qiaolan 26 times for 19 consecutive days, and successfully debunked the lies made up by Chen Qiaolan through patient legal explanations and verified evidence.
In the end, after the unremitting efforts of the investigators, Chen Qiaolan admitted the fact that Wang Zhong *** was *** and revealed the location of the stolen goods. Chen Qiaolan's confession was the key to opening Wang Zhong's case and allowing the case to proceed smoothly.
On September 15, 1982, Wang Zhong's case was the first time, and in view of his great social influence and large number of observers, the court decided to hold the trial in the auditorium of the local party committee.
However, the trial did not go smoothly and lasted two and a half days, with more and more spectators observing. In full view of everyone, Wang Zhong still firmly denied his crime. On the morning of September 17, the trial entered the debate session, when Wang Zhong suddenly suffered a heart attack, causing the trial to be forced to adjourn.
Due to Wang Zhong's physical condition, the case was delayed until December. In the evening of the same day, the collegial panel had an in-depth discussion. Under the 1979 Penal Code, public officials who take advantage of their position to take advantage of the public property of the State face life imprisonment or the death penalty if the circumstances are particularly serious.
The law passed in 1982 provides for leniency if a state functionary voluntarily surrenders on May 1.
Wang Zhong's behavior is unforgivable, and at the critical moment of reform and opening up, such a serious situation has occurred in a region, and Wang Zhong has played a very bad role. If it is not dealt with seriously, it will not be beneficial to reform and opening up. ”
On January 17, 1983, Wang Zhong was ** at the public trial meeting, which attracted 17,000 people to participate, and the scene was crowded. After the public trial, Wang Zhong was escorted to the execution ground by several bailiffs.
With a gunshot, Wang Zhong fell to the ground and ended his life. Wang Zhong's corrupt practices have a clear imprint of the times, and he was the first county party secretary to be executed after the reform and opening up.
At that time, China had just emerged from a turbulent era and was in urgent need of economic construction. In this critical period, reform and opening up were proposed, but some people still carried the old atmosphere, abused their power, and abused their power for personal gain.
It was under the influence of this unhealthy trend that Wang Zhong sought improper benefits. After the reform and opening up, people from all over the country flocked to the port, and foreign trade in Haifeng County and Shantou in Guangdong became more and more frequent.
He once confessed in front of the guards that he joined the army in 1947 as a platoon commander, and at that time he did not understand what difficulties were and was fearless about life and death. However, after changing jobs, with the improvement of living standards, he gradually became selfish.
He reflected: "The social environment and ourselves are constantly changing, and when pursuing promotion and wealth, I even wish that the leader had a happy event in his family in order to give a red envelope." Once you have power, you will use it for your own personal gain, but people cannot be selfish. ”
This is Wang Zhong's repentance before his death.