In Heilongjiang, a county official created controversy by manipulating a female subordinate. In order to get rid of the female subordinate, the official conspired with the deputy chief and fabricated false accusations against the subordinate and her entire family, leading to a judicial vendetta. On May 13th, the defense lawyer for the female subordinate, Zhang Xinian, went to Heilongjiang to handle the case, but was taken away by the local police, sparking support from numerous lawyers in China.
According to lawyer Liu Lu on May 13th, Zhang Xinian was taken away by a group of 13 people from the Public Security Bureau of Wangkui County while staying at a hotel in Suihua City.
Evidence shared on social media by Zhang Xinian revealed the details of the case: In 2023, a leading official in the county had a relationship with a female subordinate who had little prior romantic experience. They lived together at the girl’s home for several months, leading to deep emotional attachment from her. Simultaneously, the official was rumored to have inappropriate relationships with multiple other women. When the girl found out, emotional disputes arose, prompting the official to conspire with colleagues to fabricate false accusations, attempting to bring down legal consequences on the girl and her family.
Moreover, in order to mitigate the negative impact on himself, the official and his allies spread rumors locally to defame the girl and her family. Currently, the girl’s parents have been released without prosecution by the prosecutor’s office, but the girl remains detained in a prison in Suihua City.
Another lawyer’s post indicated that the local police arrested the female subordinate on charges of extortion, alleging she extorted over 3.8 million RMB from the official.
However, Zhang Xinian recently revealed on Weibo that all the recorded interrogations about the extortion case were edited. After three meetings with the accused and preliminary reading of the case files, he believed that any person with rational judgment could conclude that this was an outrageous false case. There was no evidence of extortion but rather exposed the official’s despicable character, manipulation of a subordinate, and resorting to false accusations to avoid emotional disputes, aiming to tarnish the girl’s family through legal channels.
He advised that those involved in the setup and providing false testimonies should stop before it’s too late.
An article by “Langhua Media,” published on Phoenix News, pointed out that the case investigation was carried out by the Public Security Bureau of Wangkui County in Suihua City, Heilongjiang Province, before being determined for trial in a different jurisdiction.
Zhang Xinian, a renowned lawyer in Beijing, known for exposing cases of evidence forgery by Tai’an prosecutors and procedural violations by Lanxi Court, has received awards such as the Top Ten Public Interest Litigation in China in 2016.
After news broke of Zhang Xinian’s detention, it garnered attention on social media. Many netizens questioned the method of silencing the lawyer for exposing the truth. Others criticized the excessive force used by the police and commented that the operation seemed more suitable for dealing with organized crime rather than a lawyer exposing misconduct.
They also compared the situation to past events, citing the need to prevent the abuse of power and familial ties in law enforcement and the judiciary. Many lawyers across China reposted the news of Zhang Xinian’s detention, condemning the actions of the Public Security Bureau in Wangkui County and calling for his release.
Professor Han Xu from the Law School of Sichuan University mentioned that the extortion case under investigation by the Public Security Bureau of Wangkui County involved Zhang Xinian as the defense lawyer. If Zhang was involved in criminal activities, the local police had a conflict of interest as an investigating party and lacked the authority to make arrests.
In response to the nationwide support from lawyers, on the evening of May 13th, lawyer Liu Lu posted an update confirming that Zhang Xinian had safely returned.