Outside trials, parades harm dignity, says top legislator

China should scrap outdoor trials as they severely violate dignity and antagonize naysayers and judicial authorities, a lawmaker suggested at the ongoing session of China’s top legislature.

Public trial and shame parades not only break the law, but also violate people’s dignity, Shang Lunsheng, a lawyer and also a deputy to the 13th National People’s Congress, told the Global Times on Sunday.

According to China’s Criminal Procedure Law, death sentences should be announced but not held in public.

In some places, a public trial is defended as a method to educate the public and showcase the government’s hard line against illegal activities.

In December, 12 people stood trial in front of thousands at two open-air courts: Shanwei Intermediate People’s Court and Lufeng People’s Court in South China’s Guangdong Province.

Suspects charged with drug dealing and murder had their trials held at a sports stadium in the city of Lufeng.

Video clips posted by The Beijing News on its official Weibo account showed each accused suspect being paraded into the stadium in Donghai township in the back of a modified Lufeng police pickup truck, surrounded by four armed police officers.

At crucial times in gang crime crackdown campaigns, such practices may return to many cities and cause concern for the public, Shang said.