Local people take a detour to cross the river, Jilin villagers build a floating bridge for toll collection, sentenced personnel | Huang Deyi | floating bridge

Due to the fee for building a floating bridge, Huang Deyi was first punished for "illegal bridge construction", and the bridge was also forcibly demolished. Later, he was sentenced by the court for provocation and trouble making... However, Huang Deyi always believed that his actions did not constitute a crime.

Photo of Huang Deyi working at the construction site

Villagers charged with provocation and trouble for building a floating bridge for toll collection

Huang Deyi is from Zhenlin Village, Wafang Town, Taonan City, Baicheng City, Jilin Province. He grew up by the Tao'er River. Zhenlin Village, Anquan Village, and many other nearby villages are located on both sides of the Tao'er River.

For many years, Tao'er River has been the mother river of production and life for villagers, but it has also made daily travel extremely inconvenient for villagers.

Huang Deyi's family has five brothers, all of whom have a career in ferry transportation. Huang Deyi told reporters that his father built a wooden boat in the 1970s to ferry on the Tao'er River.

In the 1990s, Huang Deyi's third brother wanted to continue ferrying on the Tao'er River. At that time, Huang Deyi was already a teacher. "I spent 4000 yuan to build three iron boats, connect them together, and ferry with my third brother."

The iron boats used to build floating bridges are now idle

Due to a ferry consisting of three boats, the number of people and vehicles that can ferry is limited. In 2014, Huang Deyi welded thirteen iron boats and built a fixed floating bridge. The floating bridge is adjusted according to the width of the water surface. Once the water is too heavy during the flood season or freezes in winter, the bridge is withdrawn from the water surface. "It can be built for about five to six months a year," he said

In October 2018, the Water Resources Bureau of Taonan City punished and forced Huang Deyi to demolish the floating bridge on the grounds of illegal bridge construction.

After the floating bridge was demolished, Huang Deyi thought it was okay. However, in February 2019, he was criminally detained by the Taonan Public Security Bureau on suspicion of provocation and trouble making. Subsequently, Huang Deyi's third brother and several family members and relatives were also subjected to criminal measures.

In July 2019, the Taonan City Procuratorate prosecuted Huang Deyi and several others to the Taonan City Court on suspicion of provoking trouble.

Recognized to charge over 50000 yuan for bridge tolls

The court ruled that the charges were established

On December 31, 2019, the Taonan City Court 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 bridge tolls, totaling nearly 10000 yuan more than the amount charged by the prosecutor's office, which amounts to 52950 yuan. His behavior constituted the crime of provocation and trouble, and Huang Deyi was sentenced to two years in prison with a two-year reprieve. The other 17 individuals were sentenced to unequal terms of imprisonment and probation, respectively.

Huang Deyi was sentenced to two years in prison with a two-year probation by the court for the crime of provocation and disturbance

Among the total bridge toll of 52950 yuan determined by the Taonan Court, the villager Li who was charged the most by Huang Deyi was a total of 20000 yuan.

According to Huang Deyi and villager Li, after the money was given to Li by the court, it was returned to Huang Deyi by Li. "Huang Deyi's construction of this bridge has indeed brought us convenience."

At the end of 2021, Huang Deyi filed an appeal. "I feel very wronged. Since ancient times, repairing bridges and roads has always been a good thing. How could I be sentenced now?"

Regarding the fees, Huang Deyi claimed that he invested over 130000 yuan in welding and building the ship, and the fees were intended to recover the cost. At the same time, he never forcibly collected the money, and it was voluntary for the villagers. There was also no situation of "not giving money and not letting go" towards ordinary passersby.

Li, a village official from Zhenlin Village, and several villagers from the safety village across the Tao'er River also confirmed this statement.

On March 31st of this year, Huang Deyi's appeal was rejected by the Taonan City Court

But Huang Deyi's appeal was not smooth. On March 31 of this year, Huang Deyi's appeal was rejected by the Taonan City Court on the grounds that the court believed that he had built a bridge to intercept passing vehicles for toll collection without the approval of relevant departments, and despite multiple administrative penalties, he still refused to correct the situation. The circumstances were heinous and constituted a criminal fact of provocation and trouble making. The appeal does not comply with relevant legal provisions and should be rejected.

The court ruling shows that the Water Resources Bureau of Taonan City has imposed administrative penalties three times, and the punished objects are Huang Deyi and others, not Huang Deyi alone. However, Huang Deyi stated that he has only received administrative penalties once, and he has not received the other two. "It is wrong to reject the appeal notice and say that I have been punished three times.".

The reporter contacted the Taonan Water Resources Bureau regarding administrative penalties, but the bureau did not provide a positive response.

Although somewhat confused, he decided to continue appealing to the Baicheng Intermediate People's Court in the next step.

Regarding this, the reporter contacted the Taonan Procuratorate and the Taonan Court. The phone call from the Taonan Procuratorate remained unanswered, while the Taonan Court stated, "I am not aware of the situation in this case.".

Lawyer: Sentenced for bridge repair fees

There are no similar cases yet

According to Hu Yongping, a lawyer at Beijing Horizon Law Firm, personal bridge construction requires approval and unauthorized construction is not allowed.

Additionally, individuals are not allowed to set up toll gates on highways without permission. According to Article 9 of China's Highway Law, it is prohibited for any unit or individual to illegally set up checkpoints, collect fees, impose fines, or intercept vehicles on highways. At the same time, Article 59 also stipulates three types of chargeable situations, including highways built by transportation departments of local people's governments at or above the county level using loans or raising funds from enterprises or individuals. That is to say, apart from the three types of highways or bridges mentioned above, it is illegal to charge fees for public or private highways or bridges.

"For those who have been sentenced for bridge repair fees, there have been no similar cases so far. Criminal law violations and criminal accountability must first have social harm. If there is no social harm, even if it meets the provisions of the Criminal Law and constitutes a certain crime, it can be considered not to hold them criminally responsible and adopt milder administrative penalties and criticism and education methods. This can achieve better social effects."

Lv Boxiong, a lawyer at Zhejiang Jinglin Law Firm, stated that according to relevant judicial interpretations, the subjective elements of the crime of provocation and disturbance are that the perpetrator artificially seeks stimulation, releases emotions, and acts recklessly, without any reason, in order to establish this crime.

Lv Boxiong stated that if the toll collection for bridge repair has not gone through relevant approval procedures, it constitutes an administrative violation, but the criminal punishment for it may be a legal error. In the absence of public services, the spontaneous repair of bridges by the masses and appropriate fees have simple legitimacy and do not pose social harm. After all, the ultimate goal of government governance and judicial adjudication is still to increase social welfare, not to reduce harm.

The bridge is gone, how can we get to the road?

Like Huang Deyi, there are also some villagers on both sides who are confused, especially those with land on the other side of the river, who have a particularly urgent need for bridges.

Zhang from Anquan Village lives on the east bank of the Tao'er River, but three out of the four plots of land in his family are located on the west bank of the Tao'er River.

After 2000, various agricultural machinery began to gradually replace livestock, and crossing the Tao'er River became a considerable challenge. When the water is shallow, you can drive a tractor through it, but if the river rises sharply during the flood season, it won't work. "After Huang Deyi built the pontoon bridge, it became much more convenient for us to go across the river to farm."

After the demolition of the floating bridge in 2018, it became much more troublesome for Zhang to go across the river to plant land. When there is a bridge, it takes about ten minutes to get to the ground. But the bridge is gone, even the nearest Zhenxi Bridge requires an additional 70 kilometers of detour, and driving a farm vehicle takes more than 3 hours to walk and 7 hours to travel back and forth. "I can't afford fuel," he said

Several local villagers have also stated that it is necessary to detour an additional 70 kilometers to plant land across the river.

The detour was too far and wading into the river was dangerous. Zhang decided to contract the land to the person across the river. Three places can earn fifty to sixty thousand yuan per year, while outsourcing can only earn twenty thousand yuan. "There's a difference of 30000 in one go, which is not a small amount for us."

Li, who runs a supermarket at home, needs to go to Baicheng to purchase goods. He claims to be the person who travels the most on the floating bridge built by Huang Deyi, except for the Chinese New Year's Eve and the first day of the lunar new year, and almost every day. "Sometimes the goods sell quickly, and there may also be two trips."

When the floating bridge was not demolished, Li used it to go to Baicheng, and the road was relatively smooth, with a one-way journey of 45 kilometers. After the pontoon bridge was demolished, "I have to go to Zhenxi Bridge for a one-way trip of 80 kilometers. It takes an additional 40 to 50 minutes to go almost half the way out in one go. I am driving a truck, and every round trip costs more than 100 yuan in fuel. If I go twice, it will cost more than 200 yuan, which also delays a lot of time."

When the reporter interviewed the Taonan Transportation Bureau about whether there were plans for bridge construction in the local area, the staff of the Taonan Transportation Bureau replied, "There is currently no plan to build a bridge on the Tao'er River near Zhenlin Village."