(Ecns.cn)--On September 14, Yang Jinde was carried by his cellmates to the court of Nanyang, Henan Province, covered with a dark green quilt. The 43-year-old looked like a severely injured soldier with his wild unkempt hair and beard, bandaged left eye and wounded arms and legs.
Yang was sentenced to 20 years in prison in a first instance ruling on July 30 on six charges, including leading underworld organizations. He is now waiting for the second instance decision.
Just one year ago, Yang was the energetic boss of a private company. Before that he was a local judicial supervisor and member of the city's Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC).
Protest against court
The tragedy started with a protest against the local court, which had forcibly withdrawn nearly all of the remaining money from the bank account of Yang's company without informing him beforehand on September 27, 2010.
On that day, two judicial officers transferred 86,000 yuan from the corporate account on the excuse that Yang had refused to accept the judgment of a lawsuit for copyright infringement, a case Yang had lost to a local company.
Yang became very angry when informed of the bank transfer and decided to protest the court's decision. That evening, more than 30 people from Yang's company gathered in front of the local court with banners saying "the court embezzles public property" and "the court distorts facts."
The protestors drew much attention from passers-by; some set off fireworks and others even claimed they would commit suicide. The police finally dispersed them with tear gas and made six arrests, but only after the president of the court had been knocked down during the clash.
Yang was shocked to see the protest end in such tragedy. It had never occurred to the former CPPCC member that he and his men would be treated like an angry mob.
Yang was a nice guy to his colleagues and got on well with his leaders and friends, according to an unnamed member of the CPPCC, "but he always dared to speak the truth."
To his employees, Yang was a good boss, who offered cash gifts to those who were getting married and comfort funds to employees who had lost their relatives.
Yang only finished senior high, but his love of reading led him to require all of his employees to study No Excuse, Details Are Key to Success and Business Etiquette to develop their interests in reading, which was later cited by the court as proof of Yang's involvement in the underground organization.
On the morning of September 28, Yang, knowing that one of his employees was injured in the protest and that several had been arrested, decided to appeal to the higher authorities in Beijing for help.
