The second trial of Xianzi v. Zhu Jun's sexual harassment case: a verdict of "insufficient evidence", a solidarity guarded by heavy troops

Report / Xiaochong
Editor / Jiang He, Meiyu

When Xianzi walked out of the courtroom, it was already 12 o'clock in the middle of the night.

The crowd rushed up immediately, and more than 40 young people stood in three circles, surrounding the string in the center. She was holding a red "Civil Code" in her left hand and the flower she was holding when she entered the courtroom in her right hand, standing in the crowd looking extremely thin.

Many supporters came at noon, survived the harassment of the police, and waited outside the court for more than ten hours, but 40 minutes before Xianzi walked out of the courtroom, they read the verdict published by the Haidian District Court on Weibo : The evidence is not enough to prove Sexual harassment, dismissed the claim.

Xianzi tried her best to restrain her emotions and told everyone what happened in the courtroom: the judge refused to collect evidence, temporarily refused expert witnesses to appear in court, did not allow lawyers to speak in the second round of debate, and did not allow her to conclude her statement. Sentencing in 20 minutes."

"I have done my best," Xianzi said, "I don't know if I have the courage to hold on for another three years, and I don't know if this is a goodbye, but if it is a goodbye, I feel very sorry... Not giving everyone a better outcome."

She couldn't help crying. Sobbing was heard at the scene, and many people began to wipe their tears. "You are great", "You have worked hard", "Xianzi you are amazing", "We love you", "We hope you will be happy in the future", the young girls and boys present encouraged her.

One supporter said: "This is not only your three years, but also our three years... If someone is tired, they can stop and rest, but I believe we will see each other in the future ."

This solidarity occurred on September 15, 2021, outside the second court hearing of Xianzi v. Zhu Jun for sexual harassment. From the beginning of the 2018 proclamation of "Get ready to fight", Xianzi has gradually become a core #MeToo actor helping victims of sexual assault and connecting women, and the Weibo account "Xianzi and her friends" has also become the leader of the movement an important voice.

In the first court session in December 2020, hundreds of young people were firm and rational in the face of police reprimands, and brought dinner, milk tea and warm babies to strangers. Witnesses said that goodwill, mutual help, and gentle and vigorous resistance allowed civil society to briefly reappear on a good night.

However, outside the trial, there were more police patrols; on the Internet, more Weibo accounts exploded immediately after posting or reposting relevant content. However, even though the number of supporters was reduced by half, dozens of people were still stationed late into the night, welcoming Xianzi with tears and encouragement, and then saying goodbye.

"Xianzi may feel tired, but #MeToo will not be silent because of this," Huang Simin, a lawyer with more than ten years of legal experience, said in an interview with NGOCN. "This is not a movement of one or two people, but a journey that many women have gone through together."

"As long as the oppression of women exists, there will always be victims and advocates who speak out," she said.

Outside the trial: police officers, uncles and aunts, the tears of supporters, "We will see each other in the future"

When 21-year-old Yu Wusheng (pseudonym) came to the Haidian District Court at 12:30 at noon, the entire Tonghui Temple Street at the south gate had been sealed off, and a cordon was set up at the main gate intersection. More than a dozen supporters stood on both sides of the intersection. . There is still an hour and a half before the hearing.

He made a circle outside the courthouse. More than 20 police officers patrolled the narrow road and checked their ID cards randomly. There were also more than 20 plainclothes police officers, all dressed in black and wearing black Bluetooth earphones, carefully looking at passers-by. He said that whenever police saw someone talking, looking around or looking at a map, they would immediately ask them to leave quickly.

At 13:40, he saw Xianzi appear next to the street sign on Yushulin Street, holding a copy of the Civil Code and holding a bunch of flowers, his expression a little nervous. Nearly 20 supporters and about 10 foreign media reporters rushed over to surround her, and a couple shouted at her, "Come on, Xianzi!"

After hesitating for a moment, Xianzi said to the crowd: "September 14, 2021, may be the last trial of my lawsuit against Zhu Jun for sexual harassment damage liability dispute. It has been three years since I stood up in 2018."

She continued, "Thank you very much, whether it's December 2 last year or today, you are willing to stand with me because we have the same feelings for each other..."

However, before he finished speaking, a middle-aged man suddenly pushed the crowd away and shouted at Xianzi , "Why are you blocking other people's way!" If you are gone, don't block the road, it will affect the normal life of the residents." While rushing Xianzi to the door of the court.

"Whether it's victory or defeat, I'm very honored to be able to experience these three years..." Xianzi tried to finish her sentence, but was pushed aside, her voice drowned in the noise of the uncle and aunt.

Xianzi was forced to walk towards the court, Yu Wusheng and more than 20 supporters followed. She suddenly stood still and wanted to say something to the supporters, but was interrupted again by the uncle and aunt shouting "Move, get out of the way, don't get together". The scene became chaotic, and Yu Wusheng said that he could feel Xianzi's anger and grievance at that time. Xianzi didn't speak anymore, wiped his tears, straightened his messed up hair, turned and walked towards the entrance of the court.

She walked through the iron fence alone, turned her head and beckoned to the supporters. "One girl shouted 'Come on, Sister Xianzi!' Everyone couldn't hold back, and many people cried," Yu Wusheng recalled, "Xianzi's thin figure soon disappeared from my sight."

Compared with the confrontation between the police and the supporters during the first court session, the brutal eviction of the uncle and aunt made many people even more angry. Yu Wusheng said: " Last year, people were able to fight head-on with the public power represented by the police, but this time the uncles and aunts rushed in, and we didn't know how to fight and who to fight against. The authorities' way of maintaining stability is particularly sinister and particularly damaging."

Another on-site supporter told NGOCN that the middle-aged man who first pushed through the crowd and insulted Xianzi then put on a Bluetooth headset and stood with other plainclothes for more than ten hours .

After Xianzi walked into the courtroom, the scene fell silent. Most supporters stood chatting at the bus stop opposite the South Gate. Someone brought a guitar and sang Zhang Xuan's "Rose of You": "You don't have a magic flute in your hand but a shabby flag... You look tired but you didn't stop. I am I love you like that, you who refuse to change, you who are rosy."

22-year-old Xie Juan (pseudonym) came out of court at 2 p.m. and waited until Xianzi walked out of the court in the early morning. "I must come, because this case is not just Xianzi's own business, it has become a connection and hope for Chinese women," she said.

She and Xianzi got acquainted by doing charity work together on the Internet. "Xianzi was busy with her own case, while helping to raise funds and donations during the outbreak of the Wuhan epidemic and the floods in Henan, helping victims of sexual assault and sexual minorities find lawyers, social workers, and journalists to speak for them," she said. She's connected, she's gentle and powerful. If I have an image of a particularly beautiful doer in my mind, she's that person."

Xie Juan met new friends while waiting, and many of them came "inspired by Xianzi" and "moved by her". Everyone got together to chat about #MeToo, about women's struggles, and to make fun of the police. She said that when the police overheard them on the sidelines of the cordon, they shouted, "You don't have to eavesdrop if you don't pull the cordon!"

In the evening, an unknown supporter came with a box lunch and asked Xie Juan and her friends if they had dinner. Nearby residents went downstairs for a walk and were stopped by the cordon. They asked her if she could go, but she always said she could. "Subconsciously, I actually hope that there is no cordon to stop everyone outside, and we can walk freely," she said. An aunt asked her why so many people got together. She explained in detail Zhu Jun's sexual harassment and Xianzi's three-year struggle. After listening, the aunt said, "This girl is very brave, it's not easy."

At half past eight in the evening, there were more police than during the day. Another witness at the scene said that Tonghui Temple Street at the south gate of the court was full of police cars, and the main entrance was blocked by three or two buses, which just blocked the sign of the Haidian District Court. Four or five police officers sat in a bus, monitoring the movements of pedestrians and supporters along with the police on the street.

The witness said that some supporters who came in the evening reminded each other to be careful with the police, saying that it would be enough to just take a look. Some college students were worried that the police would call the school and cause more trouble, so they stayed for a while and left quickly. . He understood this: "I was also very scared when I was at the scene, and I couldn't ask everyone to confront the police and hold on to the end. There is such a huge political pressure at the moment, pay attention on the Internet, go to the scene to show solidarity, and see these I am grateful for the support, big and small. ”

Until 11:30 p.m., supporters outside the court still did not wait for Xianzi, at which time the court had released the results of the trial on Weibo. "The police kept urging us to leave, saying we were waiting here stupidly, and everyone we were waiting for had arrived home," Xie Juan said. There was anxiety, frustration and anger in the crowd, and there was discussion about whether to wait any longer.

However, at nearly 12 am, a girl came over and whispered to everyone that Xianzi would be waiting for everyone at the next intersection on the west side of Yushulin Street, and the supporters immediately trotted over. They finally saw Xianzi come out, still holding the flowers in their arms when they walked into the court more than ten hours ago.

Seeing the supporters coming, the dim street lights reflected Xianzi's tears. She said to everyone: "I couldn't sleep every day before the trial, always worried that I would not prepare well enough. But I didn't have a full opportunity to make a statement in the presentation session, and lawyer Wang Fei didn't have the opportunity to argue for me in the second round. "

She kept repeating, "I have made all my efforts", rubbing the wrinkled "Civil Code" in her hand.

She said: "I was 21 when it happened, and now I'm 28. If I do this again (to fight again) I'll be 35. I can't do it anymore, I'm very tired." She choked, I wiped my tears with my hands, but I couldn't help crying. "Being able to get in touch with everyone and talk to everyone on Weibo in the past three years has been all my efforts for three years."

"I didn't expect this to happen. I thought it would be better. At least I don't have to come out and tell everyone that I lost the lawsuit," Xianzi said. "I feel very ashamed. I don't know if there will be another three years."

The girls and boys present could no longer hold back their emotions. Many of them began to sob obviously. Everyone comforted Xianzi with crying voices: "It's okay", "You are great", "Xianzi we love you", "We hope you have a good life" your future life."

One supporter said: "We should thank you for making such an attempt." The scene fell silent, and she continued: "Even if it is difficult to speak out in public in the next three years, but ... everyone will not stop. Down."

After everyone's comfort and encouragement, Xianzi's mood eased a little and said that he would insist on appealing. "Even with a verdict like this ... that doesn't change what happened to me," she said. " Beginning in 2014, a lot of people told me not to speak up, but I never felt like I was sexually harassed for a second. Victim, I never felt for a second that I had done something wrong. ”

She thanked everyone and left in the car with her friends. Beside Xie Juan, a girl couldn't hold back, and squatted on the ground crying.

During the court hearing: "Insufficient evidence", no access, restricted debate

On the night of the trial, Xianzi issued a long statement saying that she applied to the court to obtain CCTV corridor surveillance video before and after the sexual harassment, as well as a transcript of the police's trip to Wuhan to threaten her parents not to spread the word. However, the presiding judge refused to collect relevant evidence because it was "not directly related to the core facts of sexual harassment".

NGOCN tried to understand the specific situation in the trial, but Wang Fei, Xianzi's attorney, declined the interview, citing the safety of the client.

Many legal practitioners believe that the court's refusal to collect evidence lacks justification or even dereliction of duty.

The general consensus in the legal community is that sexual harassment is highly concealed and difficult to obtain and prove. Lawyer Huang Simin said that under such a premise, multiple indirect evidences are used to form a chain of evidence to meet the "high probability" standard of proof in civil litigation, which is a common litigation method used by the victim.

Lawyer Huang Simin explained that although the corridor surveillance and the police’s threatening parents’ transcripts cannot directly and independently prove the facts of sexual harassment, they are still closely related to the causes and consequences of the sexual harassment, and can be used by Xianzi as a chain of evidence to prove Zhu Jun’s sexual harassment.

She said that for these evidences that are closely related to the case and cannot be obtained by the victims, the court should obtain it ex officio, "but the court failed to do so, which is a dereliction of duty."

Lawyer Huang Simin emphasized: "The reason for 'insufficient evidence' is that the court did not collect enough evidence. If all evidence is collected, even if the evidence does not meet the standard of proof, it is at least a judgment made under the existing system. ( The present result) reflects the general lack of gender awareness in my country's judicial practice, as well as the lack of a protection system for victims of sexual assault."

She continued: "The judge does not even collect the evidence that should be obtained, and has not yet weighed the probative force of the evidence, and blocked the road at the first step. Whether such an act is in compliance with the civil procedure law and the judge's law is a matter of course. Doubtful."

In the two trials, the court refused to collect evidence such as surveillance, transcripts, and dresses for different reasons.

Xianzi wrote in his account after the first court session that the public security organs kept CCTV corridor surveillance, and Zhu Jun also posted screenshots of surveillance on the Internet. However, in the first trial, the court replied that "the public security organ has not requested surveillance"; in the second trial, the court refused to request surveillance.

Regarding the transcript of the police's threat to her parents, Xianzi wrote that during the first trial, her parents had testified on the spot in the whole process of the police contacting the two, but the court concluded that "the public security has already retrieved all the files and will not repeat the process. In the second trial, the court refused to retrieve the transcript again on the grounds that it was "unrelated to the core facts".

In addition, Xianzi said that she applied in both court trials to re-identify the dress she was wearing when the sexual harassment occurred. However, the court replied that the public security organs have not retrieved the dress. However, on the contrary, she wrote that after reporting the case in 2014, the police had tested three sticky objects on the front of the dress, the right hem, and the buttocks, and at the pretrial conference in 2019, she saw the police's identification The report is well preserved.

In an interview with NGOCN, Lv Pin, the promoter of the feminist movement and the founder of "Voice of Women's Rights", said that the case shows "how the three parties, the public security, the procuratorate and the law, colluded to deny the facts in the name of the law."

Lu Pin said: "The concealment of sexual harassment, the social and cultural sense of sexual stigma and the humiliation of women make it difficult to prove sexual harassment. But now, the judiciary and power are covering up and jointly suppressing the victims, which makes sexual harassment impossible to prove at all."

"The court's statement is also bullying," Lu Pin said. "Even if there is a dress, it means that the whereabouts are unknown; if it is under surveillance, it is not called. It's a blatant contradiction, like 'what can you do with me'. attitude, trampling on procedural justice."

Ahead of the first court session in 2020, #MeToo campaigners are bracing for the limitations of judicial trials. "If the justice cannot give justice, it will defend the society; if it cannot give justice now, it will defend history", which has become the slogan of Xianzi and her friends. Feminist activist Liang Xiaowen said: "Xianzi 's case is a test of China's legal system, not a test of the law on MiTu. "

After the second trial, Lu Pin said that although the lawsuit failed, it became the most influential case in the #MeToo movement. The three-year litigation process has exposed the systemic problems of the law and the judiciary, and the public discussion it has caused, as well as the shock to the whole society, is a deeper meaning besides losing the lawsuit.

However, under the Weibo of the Haidian District Court announcing the verdict, many comments sympathized with Zhu Jun's "grievances". Two days before the hearing of the Xianzi case, He Qian accused Deng Fei of sexual harassment, which ended when Deng Fei sued him for infringement of reputation rights in the first instance and upheld the original verdict in the second instance. Deng Fei declared on the public account, "Continue to believe in the law."

Lu Pin analyzed that #MeToo only exposes the shortcomings of the legal system, and does not necessarily promote judicial improvement immediately. On the contrary, in recent years, social misogyny has fermented, and there has been a split of "believe it or not believe it" in the judgment of sexual harassment. "If China's judiciary is completely at this level, it has no credibility at all," she said.

On social networks, a large number of Weibo accounts have been bombed or banned for posting or reposting texts and pictures related to the Xianzi trial, including feminist blogger @CatchUPGender Justice Sisters, @七小 Monsters, @BERRY MAYLOVE, and the media People @ auntie bear, @west window follow-up and so on. However, Weibo and comments attacking Xianzi for "creating social divisions", "anti-China tools", and "severely punishing feminists" were unscathed, with thousands of likes.

Lu Pin said that #MeToo's connection to women's groups and its challenge to a patriarchal society touched the nerves of those in power, and will inevitably lead to "iron fist" suppression; and after the confluence of nationalism and misogyny, netizens "external forces" " is equivalent to "political death penalty" and "no need to talk to you about women's rights and #MeToo itself".

Several witnesses at the trial said that the verdict and the oppression of power have made many people worry about the future of #MeToo, believing that offline solidarity is almost impossible, and the online public space is increasingly collapsing.

But lawyer Huang Simin said that there is no need to be too discouraged by a single case. "Although the space is getting smaller and smaller, the case can still be publicized, #MeToo can still be discussed, and there is still hope for this issue," she said. " #MeToo may be pessimistic in the next three or five years, but it needs to be What has changed is the systematic oppression of women by laws, institutions, society and culture, and it is destined to be a long struggle. ”

She said: "#MeToo victims have used their pain, injustice, and courage to speak up, in exchange for a little progress in women's rights and gender equality, which itself is a bloody history of women's lives."