Government and Policy

Wrongly jailed man becomes 'citizen agent'

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2011-02-17 06:52

Zhao Zuohai talks to reporters in this May 11, 2010 file photo. [Photo/Asianewsphoto]

ZHENGZHOU- With his gray hair dyed black, Zhao Zuohai looks a bit younger than several months ago when he was released from jail, though the scar on his head is still visible.

The scar continues reminding him of the dreadful interrogations in 1999 when police forced him to confess to a murder he did not commit.

Zhao was found innocent and released last May, as the man he was alleged to have murdered turned up alive. His case was later considered one of China's top 10 cases used to promote the knowledge of the Constitution and laws to the whole society.

After becoming a newsmaker, Zhao returned to his hometown in Zhecheng County of central China's Henan Province, and started his new life as a "citizen agent". Many accusers or accused from all over China turn to him, asking him to sit in court and help to ensure that just rulings are issued.

"I know little about law, but judges know me, and I can sit there to remind them of justice with my image," he said, adding this is the least he can do to help others.

Since last May, Zhao has accepted more than 150 cases in Shanghai, Beijing, Chengdu and many other places, and according to him, judges were cautious of rulings on the cases he was involved in. He said he would travel throughout China to help avoid the type of injustice he had suffered. Of course he expects those inviting him to pay his travel expenses.

"I'm willing to help free of charge, but if I had to pay for the tickets myself, I would have spent all my compensation," he laughed.

Out of the 650,000-yuan (99,000 US dollars) of compensation he received, he has spent a large sum for his eldest son's marriage, and will support all of his children whenever they are at loose ends.

"Due to my 11 years' absence in their life, I think I owe them, " said Zhao, who is living in a two-story building funded by the local government.

After he was put in prison, his wife remarried, and two of his four children were adopted and the other two left to become migrant workers. Luckily, three of them returned home when he was released.

Zhang Liyong, head of the Higher People's Court of Henan Province, visited Zhao last June and bowed to him as an apology. "If my bow could make up for the innocent man's misery, I'd rather bow 100 times," Zhang told Xinhua earlier in February.

Another controversial case in Henan occurred in Pingdingshan City last December, when a farmer was sentenced to life in prison for avoiding to pay expressway tolls worth almost 4 million yuan with fake military vehicle plates. The case became a stir in China for the harsh ruling and unreasonably high toll amounts, and in January the intermediate court in Pingdingshan ordered for the case to be retried.

The miscarriage of justice highlighted by the two cases has severely eroded the credibility of the judiciary, and the court system must learn the lessons to avoid further wrongful rulings, said Zhang at the annual session of provincial people's congress in late January.

After the Spring Festival, the first one he enjoyed together with his family in 12 years, Zhao decided to stay at home to irrigate his 9-mu (0.6 hectares) farmland to fight the ongoing drought. He also bought a small tractor for farm work.

While being asked whether he would like to run a small business, he said that being a citizen agent and agricultural chores already kept him busy, and he did not have time for any business.

"All I wish is my crops grow well enough to give me rice and meat, and for vulnerable people like me can be treated with justice," Zhao said.