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| (1997) Shen zhong Fa Xing 2 Zhong No. 33 Original prosecuting organ: People's Procuratorate, Nanshan District, Shenzhen Municipality Appellant (defendent in the original trial): Chen Meng, alias Chen Zhongxiao, assumed name Xu Shengli; male; date of birth: December 7, 1961; nationality: Han; place of birth: Lingbao City, Henan Province; unemployed; residence: dependants dormitory, Jiaopingdong, Tongchuan City, Shaanxi Province. Chen was apprehended on March 14, 1995, for leaking state secrets. He was put under Shelter and Investigation on April 12, 1995, and arrested according to law on May 26, 1995. He is currently held in Guangdong Provincial Detention Center.
Defendant in the original trial: Tang Tao; male; date of birth: August 23, 1970; nationality: Han; place of birth: Shaoyang City, Hunan Province; member of the Chinese Communist Party; professional soldier; was commander of Third Platoon, Twelfth Detatchment, Sixth Brigade of the Frontier Guards, People's Armed Police of Guangdong Province; residence: Room 205, Dormitory of Xili Hospital, Nanshan District, Shenzhen Municipality. He was put under criminal detention on April 19, 1995, for leaking important state secrets, and arrested on May 25 of the same year. He is now held in the Nanshan District Detention Center, Shenzhen Municipality. The Nanshan District People's Court, Shenzhen Municipality, tried the case of the defendants Chen Meng illegally providing state secrets and Tang Tao leaking important state secrets, and reached the verdict in a criminal case (1996) Shen Nan Fa Xing 1 Chu No. 200 on April 15, 1997. After the trial, the defendant Chen Meng did not accept the verdict and appealed against it. The defendant Tang Tao did not appeal. This court organized a collegiate panel according to the procedure mandated for trials of second instance in the Criminal Procedure Law of the People's Republic of China, tried the case and has now completed the proceedings. The original trial determined that on the night of one of the last ten days of October, 1994, defendant Chen Meng asked his brother-in-law defendant Tang Tao whether he had a name list of people barred from entering China. Tang promised to look for it when he returned to the barracks. That evening, the defendant Tang Tao returned to the barracks, and on the pretext of the need for year-end assessment, asked Zhan XX, the copy clerk, to make a copy of that name list. He also found a copy of the original document "Yue Gong Frontier (Secret) No. 134" (which contained the name list) in his desk drawer, and handed it over to Chen Meng that same night. On the afternoon of November 2, 1994, the defendant Chen Meng made a copy of the top secret document, and faxed it to the relevant persons in an organization outside China's borders in Hong Kong through Zhang XX (who was not aware of the details of the situation) of Shenzhen Nanyue Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd., introduced to him by his sister Bai XX (who was not aware of the details of the situation). On January 6, 1995, the contents of this top secret document were printed in many Hong Kong newspapers, such as Oriental Daily and Sing Tao Daily. At the original trial, on the basis of the facts and in accordance with the Supplementary Provisions for the Punishment of the Crime of Leaking State Secrets and Articles 186 and 52 of the Criminal Law of the People's Republic of China, the court sentenced the defendant Chen Meng to a fixed-term imprisonment of twelve years, with deprivation of political rights for an additional four years for illegally providing state secrets, and the defendant Tang Tao to a fixed-term imprisonment of six years. The defendant Chen Meng filed an appeal asking for leniency on grounds including the claim that his actions were not serious. This court has ascertained through its proceedings that the original trial, in determining that the appellant Chen Meng illegally provided state secrets and that the defendant in the original trial Tang Tao leaked important state secrets, was based on clear facts and conclusive evidence. The appellant Chen Meng ignored the law of the state in providing state secrets to an organization outside China's borders, thereby producing undesirable effects and seriously damaging the country's reputation. The offense was especially serious. The defendant Tang Tao in the original trial, a worker in the employ of the state, violated the country's laws for protecting state secrets, intentionally leaked important state secrets to another person. His offense was also serious. The grounds on which the appellant Chen Meng filed his appeal are untenable and are thus rejected by this court. In the opinion of this court, the facts determined in the original verdict were clear and the evidence conclusive. The conviction is correct and the punishment fits the crime. The trial was conducted in accordance with legal procedure. In accordance with Article 189 section (1) of the Criminal Procedure Law of the People's Republic of China, this court rules as follows: The appeal is rejected and the original judgement is upheld. This is the ruling of final instance. Chief Judge: Chen LinjiJudge: Cai Xueyan Acting Judge: Shi Zhengwen Clerk: Yang Shuang (Seal of the Intermediate People's Court, Shenzhen Municipality, date unreadable on copy) This copy has been compared with the original document and is accurate. |
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