Both have been sentenced!, Destruction of Military Marriage and National Defense | Military Marriage Crime | Military Marriage
According to the official website of the Supreme People's Procuratorate on July 28th, the Supreme People's Procuratorate has released 9 typical cases of lawfully punishing crimes that harm national defense interests and infringe upon the legitimate rights and interests of military personnel and their families.
This batch of typical cases involves different aspects of safeguarding national defense interests and the legitimate rights and interests of military personnel and their families, including punishing crimes such as impersonating soldiers to deceive, damaging military facilities, buying and selling documents of the armed forces, illegally buying and selling standardized clothing of the armed forces, and disrupting military marriages in accordance with the law.
The 9 cases are respectively the case of Feng buying and selling armed forces documents, Dong buying and selling armed forces documents, and illegally using armed forces special signs, Su and three others illegally buying and selling armed forces standard clothing, Ma and Yang damaging military facilities, Shi fraud, Gong illegally obtaining state secrets, Jiang infringing on the reputation and honor of heroes and martyrs, Qian damaging military marriages, and Han damaging military marriages.
Among them, two individuals were sentenced to two years and six months in prison and one year in prison for committing the crime of disrupting military marriages.
Article 259 of the Criminal Law stipulates that anyone who knowingly cohabits or marries a spouse of an active duty soldier shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not more than three years or criminal detention.
Case One
In 2013, Qian developed a romantic relationship with Chen while he was married, but the two broke up due to Qian's inability to divorce.
In September 2014, Chen registered his marriage with active duty soldier Zhang. From 2015 to 2018, Qian, knowing that Chen's husband Zhang was an active duty soldier, had multiple sexual encounters with Chen at his rental office and Qian's office, resulting in Chen giving birth to a second son in June 2016 and December 2018, respectively.
In March 2022, active duty soldier Zhang suspected that his second son was not his biological child, so he reported the case and divorced Chen on June 2 of the same year.
During the case handling process, Qian claimed that he had only engaged in adultery with Chen and did not cohabit. Regarding the key issue of whether Qian can be identified as cohabiting with the spouse of active duty military personnel, the procuratorial organs guide the investigation organs to conduct comprehensive visits to inquire about the family, friends, neighbors, colleagues, and other personnel of the two individuals, retrieve their WeChat chat records and transfer records, and identify three key facts: Chen's family members had an accident and his son was hospitalized, all of which were handled by Qian, and Qian and Chen's family had close relationships and frequent movements; Chen often goes to Qian's office to deliver meals and takes Qian to family gatherings, while Qian often goes out shopping with Chen; Chen participated in the operation of Qian's team and provided financial assistance for Qian's car purchase.
The procuratorial organs believe that by sorting out the evidence in the case, it can be confirmed that the two individuals had a close relationship in life and helped each other economically for a period of three years, which is a long-term, sustained, and stable cohabitation behavior. During this period, the two gave birth to two children, leading to the breakdown of the military marital relationship, which is considered "knowingly cohabiting with an active military spouse.".
On August 8, 2022, the procuratorial organs prosecuted Qian for the crime of disrupting military marriages. On November 18 of the same year, the court sentenced Qian to two years and six months in prison for the crime of disrupting military marriages. Qian did not appeal.
Case 2
In another similar case, Han was sentenced to one year in prison.
According to the case, Zhao enlisted in 2005 and retired in April 2022. In January 2015, Zhao married Shi. In August 2020, Han dated Shi while he was married, and the two had sexual intercourse multiple times while staying in a hotel. From April to July 2022, during the period when Zhao was transferred to another job for resettlement, Han divorced his wife and continued to live together with Shi, resulting in Shi having an abortion in November 2022.
The procuratorial organs believe that although Han and Shi do not publicly claim to be husband and wife, they continue to live together in a stable and close relationship in terms of economy and life. Han's behavior should be recognized as "cohabitation" in the crime of undermining military marriage. Despite knowing that Shi was the spouse of an active duty soldier, Han had multiple sexual relations with Shi and cohabited for a long time, which constituted a crime. Moreover, Han disregarded the dignity of the law and did not listen to advice, resulting in a heinous crime. The procuratorial organs have lawfully listened to the opinions of the victim Zhao and the military legal advisor, and have prosecuted Han for the crime of undermining military marriage.
On June 7th this year, the court sentenced Han to one year in prison for the crime of disrupting military marriages. Han was dissatisfied and appealed. On July 3rd, the second instance court ruled to dismiss the appeal and uphold the original verdict.
