Local people responded and were sentenced for provoking and causing trouble. Villagers built a floating bridge without permission to charge fees. Villagers | Huang Deyi | Floating Bridge
Recently, Huang Deyi, a villager from Baicheng City, Jilin Province, was found guilty of provoking and causing trouble by illegally building a floating bridge, causing a huge uproar. The focus of public discussion is whether the determination of the crime of provocation and disturbance in this case is appropriate?
On July 9th, several local villagers told Jimu News reporters that Huang Deyi was once a village teacher who had lost his job due to the "floating bridge incident". Initially, Huang Yide did not impose any fees on villagers. If it weren't for this floating bridge, villagers would need to detour dozens of kilometers to reach the opposite bank.
It is reported that at the end of June, Huang Deyi filed another appeal to the Baicheng Intermediate People's Court. On June 29th, the Baicheng Intermediate People's Court registered and filed the case in accordance with legal procedures, and the case is currently under review.
Villagers building bridges without permission and charging fees
18 people sentenced on charges of provocation and disturbance
Tao'er River is the largest tributary on the right bank of the Nenjiang River in the Songhua River of the Heilongjiang River system, located in the Xing'an League of Inner Mongolia and the northwest of Jilin Province. The home of villager Huang Deyi is located in Zhenlin Village, Wafang Town, Taonan City, Baicheng City, Jilin Province, along the banks of the Tao'er River. Across the river is An'an Village, Ping'an Town, Taobei District, Baicheng City.
Iron boats for building floating bridges
According to previous media reports, the five brothers of Huang Deyi all had a career in ferry transportation. In the late 1990s, Huang Deyi and his third brother built three iron boats connected together for ferry services, but the fees were not standardized. In 2014, he and his friends welded thirteen iron boats to build a floating bridge, investing nearly 130000 yuan. In April 2016, September 2016, and November 2017, the Water Resources Bureau of Taonan City issued three Administrative Penalty Notices and Notice of Order for Rectification within a Time Limit to Huang Deyi, each time imposing a fine of 10000 yuan and requiring him to demolish the floating bridge. After the demolition of the bridge, in February 2019, Huang Deyi was criminally detained by the Taonan Public Security Bureau on suspicion of provocation and disturbance. Subsequently, multiple family members and relatives of Huang Deyi were also subjected to criminal coercive measures.
On December 31, 2019, the People's Court of Taonan City made a first instance judgment. The court ruled that Huang Deyi and other personnel built a floating bridge on the ship from 2005 to 2014 and charged a bridge toll; Construction of fixed floating bridges from 2014 to 2018. Huang Deyi organized a scheduling and set a fee standard, with a small car costing 5 yuan and a large car costing 10 yuan. He intercepted passing vehicles and charged a bridge toll, totaling 52950 yuan. His behavior constituted the crime of provocation and disturbance, and Huang Deyi was sentenced to two years in prison and two years in probation. The other 17 people were sentenced to unequal terms of imprisonment and probation, respectively.
After being sentenced, Huang Deyi appealed to the People's Court of Taonan City. On March 31, 2023, Huang Deyi's appeal was rejected by the People's Court of Taonan City. On June 26, 2023, Huang Deyi continued to appeal to the Intermediate People's Court of Baicheng City, Jilin Province. On June 29, 2023, the Intermediate People's Court of Baicheng City filed the case in accordance with legal procedures and is currently reviewing it.
On July 7th, local officials stated in an interview with CCTV that in response to the issues reflected in the "Huang Deyi Private Floating Bridge Incident", Taonan City has conducted a special investigation and decided to build a convenient bridge near Zhenlin Village in the near future, striving to complete it before the autumn harvest. At the same time, Taonan City will further improve its transportation network and demonstrate the installation of highway bridge bridges near Zhenlin Village.
Local villagers and government:
The bridge builders did not impose mandatory fees
Occasionally, disputes arise when outsiders cross the bridge
According to a criminal retrial application submitted by Huang Deyi, obtained by a journalist from Jimu News, some villagers from Huang Deyi and Zhenlin Village have cultivated land across the river. During spring plowing, they need to detour dozens of kilometers to cultivate land because they cannot directly cross the river to the other side. Therefore, Huang Deyi spent his own money to purchase materials for bridge construction and built a floating bridge leading to the opposite bank of the river. This not only facilitates one's own home, but also solves the problems of farming and autumn harvest for villagers on both sides of the strait.
On July 9th, several villagers from the same village as Huang Deyi and the safety village across the river told Jimu News reporters that Huang Deyi used to be a teacher at the village primary school, but now in his fifties, he has been sentenced for building a floating bridge and has lost his job. He now relies on farming and working for a living. At that time, the villagers crossed the pontoon bridge to the opposite bank without mandatory charges, and the fees they paid ranged from 3 yuan to 10 yuan.
"Huang Deyi's family also contracted a part of the land across the river to build this bridge, which is not only convenient for their family but also for everyone." A villager from Zhenlin Village believes that building the bridge would have required a large amount of money. By collecting a certain toll and recovering some funds, they can understand that "without this floating bridge, we would have to detour dozens of kilometers to reach the other bank, which would have cost much more time and money."
Another villager from Zhenlin Village told Jimu News reporters that for the sake of the face of the villagers in the village, some villagers did not pay when crossing the bridge, and Huang Deyi's family did not pay from beginning to end.
A villager from Anquan Village said that this floating bridge is basically maintained by Huang Deyi and his family. Previously, there were occasional disputes over toll fees when people from other places crossed the bridge. Some passersby will pay after understanding the reason behind it, while others will not pay.
The government staff of Wafang Town, Taonan City, responded in a media interview that according to their understanding, there is indeed a charging situation for the floating bridge built by Huang Deyi, "but it is not mandatory.". In addition, the staff also denied rumors that Huang Deyi had dug up the road during the construction of the floating bridge. It indicates that the floating bridge connects Zhenlin Village in Wafang Town, Taonan City to An'an Village in Ping'an Town, Taobei District, Baicheng City, greatly reducing the distance between villagers on both sides of the river, and the demand for building bridges here is also strong among villagers.
Legal person: The behavior of the parties involved does not have subjective intention to provoke or cause trouble
On July 8th, Professor Luo Xiang from China University of Political Science and Law released an article titled "Is it guilty to build a floating bridge privately?" stating that there are four types of behavior in the crime of provocation and trouble making: beating others at will, chasing, intercepting, insulting, intimidating others, forcibly taking or arbitrarily damaging or occupying public and private property, and causing serious disorder in public places by causing disturbances. In this case, the court considers that Huang's act of collecting bridge tolls is a forced acquisition. Huang claimed that he invested over 130000 yuan in welding and building the ship's hull, and the fee was intended to recover the cost. At the same time, he never forcibly collected the money, and it was voluntary for the villagers. There was no situation of "not giving money and not letting go" towards ordinary passersby. Officials from a certain village in Zhenlin Village and several villagers along the Tao'er River have also confirmed this statement. If the above testimony is true, crossing the bridge to pay fees is purely voluntary and cannot be considered as a forced demand.
Luo Xiang stated that even if it is deemed illegal to build a bridge without authorization, the most serious legal consequence is only administrative punishment, without criminal responsibility. In addition, for people who build bridges without permission, they can also go through the necessary procedures afterwards instead of demolishing them all, especially when the construction of bridges can facilitate people's travel, and it is not advisable to demolish them at once.
Lawyer Liu Wenhua from Yunnan Liu Wenhua Law Firm analyzed to Jimu News reporters that although the crime of provocation and trouble making is jokingly referred to as "mouth bag crime", the boundaries of the legislation regarding the crime of provocation and trouble making are still relatively clear, and the criteria for criminalization are also relatively detailed, targeting behaviors that "cause trouble without cause and seriously disrupt social order". The legal basis for the crime of provocation and disturbance is Article 293 of the Criminal Law and the Interpretation of the Supreme People's Court and the Supreme People's Procuratorate on Several Issues Concerning the Application of Law in Handling Criminal Cases of provocation and disturbance. From the currently disclosed case information, it can be seen that the behavior of the parties involved in this case of setting up a floating bridge to solve transportation difficulties and charging appropriate fees to recover costs does not fall within the scope of the "crime of provocation and disturbance" stipulated by the aforementioned laws and judicial interpretations. The crime and punishment are legally prescribed, and as long as the act of erecting a floating bridge does not fall within the scope of the "crime of provocation and disturbance" stipulated by law, it should not be convicted or punished.
Liu Wenhua also mentioned that currently, the behavior of the parties involved in this case is essentially an act of solving traffic problems independently by the public. The behavior may have administrative illegality, but it does not have subjective intention to provoke trouble and is not suitable for conviction and imprisonment. It is recommended that the local judicial authorities review this case. If errors are found in the case, a retrial should be initiated as soon as possible to rectify the errors in accordance with the law.
