Rape trial casts attention on offspring of China's elite
Beijing: A gang rape trial that opened in Beijing on Wednesday accompanied by a blaze of local media attention has become China's latest legal spectacle to cast glaring attention on the lifestyles, and alleged misdeeds, of the political elite. One of the five defendants is Li Tianyi, a 17-year-old whose privileged background and past misdeeds have made him the focus of a media and Internet uproar that has lasted months about what many see as the sordid ways of offspring of the political elite. Li is the son of celebrity singers for the People's Liberation Army and ran into legal trouble before the rape charges.
Like the recent trial of Bo Xilai, the fallen former politician, the case has become an intensely watched and debated parable about the privileges and limited accountability of the Communist Party's highborn. And accusations against the woman who says she was raped have stirred discussion about how the Chinese media and courts deal with the victims of sexual assault and minors accused of crimes. "The factor behind why the media and everyone is so interested in this case is that it's about the so-called ugly officials and ugly rich," said Lu Pin, who helps run the Media Monitor for Women Network, an advocacy group in Beijing. "Everyone wants to see them exposed in disgrace, because in the majority of cases nothing is ever revealed," Lu said in a telephone interview. "But in fact, opinion can also easily be turned so that this becomes a trial of the victim."
Chinese news websites have devoted special sub-sites to the case, and they showed pictures of journalists jammed behind police cordons outside the courthouse Wednesday, although the trial is closed to the public. Most of the defendants, including Li, told the court that they were innocent of the rape charges, the official news service, Xinhua, reported. The China News Service said the trial is likely to last two days; Chinese courts usually give verdicts about two weeks after a trial. But for Li's status, the case probably would never have ignited the uproar... read more:
http://www.ndtv.com/article/world/rape-trial-casts-attention-on-offspring-of-china-s-elite-411707
See also:
Media Monitor for Women Network, Beijing
Like the recent trial of Bo Xilai, the fallen former politician, the case has become an intensely watched and debated parable about the privileges and limited accountability of the Communist Party's highborn. And accusations against the woman who says she was raped have stirred discussion about how the Chinese media and courts deal with the victims of sexual assault and minors accused of crimes. "The factor behind why the media and everyone is so interested in this case is that it's about the so-called ugly officials and ugly rich," said Lu Pin, who helps run the Media Monitor for Women Network, an advocacy group in Beijing. "Everyone wants to see them exposed in disgrace, because in the majority of cases nothing is ever revealed," Lu said in a telephone interview. "But in fact, opinion can also easily be turned so that this becomes a trial of the victim."
Chinese news websites have devoted special sub-sites to the case, and they showed pictures of journalists jammed behind police cordons outside the courthouse Wednesday, although the trial is closed to the public. Most of the defendants, including Li, told the court that they were innocent of the rape charges, the official news service, Xinhua, reported. The China News Service said the trial is likely to last two days; Chinese courts usually give verdicts about two weeks after a trial. But for Li's status, the case probably would never have ignited the uproar... read more:
http://www.ndtv.com/article/world/rape-trial-casts-attention-on-offspring-of-china-s-elite-411707
See also:
Media Monitor for Women Network, Beijing
