Tibetan wealthy businessman Doji Zaxi was charged with loan fraud in 2010 and sentenced to life imprisonment. Over the past decade, he has been steadfast in maintaining his innocence while incarcerated. In recent years, the prison authorities have prohibited his siblings from visiting, and starting this year, they have also forbidden visits from his wife and lawyer.
Recently, family members of Doji Zaxi revealed to a reporter from the Epoch Times, “Because we posted about Doji Zaxi’s situation in prison online, the prison authorities claimed that we were defaming him, and thus prevented me and my sister from visiting. Now, even his lawyer and wife are not allowed to visit, and his son is not allowed to return to their home in Tibet. They say it’s under strict control. The duration of the control is three months, it should have ended since May, but they continue to say it’s strict punishment, which is just deceiving people.”
The family expressed their frustration, stating, “We have filed complaints against the prison authorities with the procuratorate, judicial department, and the Ministry of Justice, but to no avail. A person serving a life sentence for 17 years is even hindered from family visits. We don’t understand what they are afraid of. Visiting once a month is a citizen’s legal right, but we don’t understand the true intentions of the judicial leadership in Tibet.”
The current situation of Doji Zaxi in prison is completely unknown to his family, and although some sources have mentioned that his health is deteriorating in prison, the prison officials have denied these claims.
The family helplessly expressed, “Now we have hired a lawyer from Beijing and a legal advisor, currently working on appealing the case.”
Doji Zaxi, a Tibetan, was once the wealthiest man in Tibet. In 2008, during the “3.14 Incident” in Tibet, Doji Zaxi and his brother Doji Tsondru were both arrested. Doji Zaxi was accused of supporting Tibetan independence, facing charges ranging from “endangering national security” to “bribery” and “tax evasion,” ultimately being convicted of the “bank loan fraud” of 1.44 million yuan and sentenced to life imprisonment. At that time, his assets worth nearly 1.8 billion yuan were confiscated.
In 2010, Doji Zaxi was sentenced to life imprisonment and after being transferred from the detention center to the prison, he wrote an article titled “My Unjust Imprisonment,” which was secretly handed to his relatives in 2011 with the help of a kind prison guard, detailing the torture he endured and the falsified charges against him.
Having spent 17 years in prison, Doji Zaxi still maintains his innocence. His legal advisor analyzed the “loan fraud case” and pointed out four major points of contention, indicating that the “Qinsangyuan Company” loan fraud case will be a litmus test for observing judicial fairness in China. This case not only affects one individual’s fate but also reflects numerous crucial issues in Chinese judicial practice.
The legal advisor stated that the most prominent legal issues in this case include: 1. Criminal interference in legally valid mortgage loan civil legal relationships; 2. Direct and sufficient evidence of innocence being treated as evidence of guilt; 3. Criminal judgments directly referencing administrative judgments as a basis for determination, with the administrative judgment suspended pending further review. The Tibet Higher People’s Court rejected the appeal notice in 2013 without addressing the lawyer’s inquiry as to why the bank consistently denied being defrauded.
The legal advisor believes that even if Doji Zaxi had borrowed 1.5 million yuan from the Agriculture Bank of Shigatse Branch, which may constitute a genuine and legitimate mortgage loan, it would still be deemed a crime. According to Article 193 of the Criminal Law, the crime of loan fraud with a significant amount shall be punished with imprisonment for less than five years or detention; for a large amount, a term of imprisonment of more than five years but less than ten years; for an exceptionally large amount or other particularly severe circumstances, a term of imprisonment of ten years or life imprisonment.
In judicial practice, amounts exceeding 500,000 yuan are deemed “large sums,” while amounts above 2 million yuan are considered “exceptionally large sums.” In this case, the amount involved was 1.5 million yuan, falling within the category of “large sum,” but not meeting the criteria for “exceptionally large sum” of 2 million yuan. However, the sentence decided on the basis of “exceptionally large sum or other particularly severe circumstances” resulted in a life imprisonment and confiscation of all personal assets, sparking concerns within the legal community.