"Tongzhuo's college entrance examination fraud case" attracts attention again, why was Tongzhuo himself not prosecuted

　　The Paper reporter Yu Yan Liao Yan special correspondent Fei Danyi

　　After more than a year, Tongzhuo's college entrance examination fraud case once again attracted public attention.

　　The indictment recently issued by the Yaodu District Procuratorate of Linfen City, Shanxi Province revealed that during the investigation of relevant departments, relevant personnel of the Linfen City Education Bureau supplemented Tongzhuo's files with forged household registration materials and other details.

The source of the indictment picture is 12309 China Inspection Network

　　After falling into the whirlpool of public opinion again, Tong Zhuofa claimed that "it was not my college entrance examination fraud, but some personnel who cheated my college entrance examination".

He also said that he objected to the punishment imposed by the Shanxi Provincial Admissions Examination Management Center and had filed an administrative lawsuit.

Tongzhuo publicly sued the Shanxi Provincial Admissions and Examination Management Center in his personal Weibo. Image source: Tongzhuo's personal Weibo account

　　Peng Mei News previously reported that in May 2020, Tong Zhuo claimed in the live broadcast that he had changed from a previous student to a fresh student by some means during the college entrance examination, causing netizens to question his fraud.

　　Since then, 21 responsible persons, including Tong Zhuo's stepfather, have been dealt with, and three staff members of the Linfen Education Bureau have been arrested by the prosecutor on suspicion of forging documents from state organs.

Tong Zhuo himself was also revoked his graduation certificate from the Central Academy of Drama, and his grades in all stages and subjects were invalid.

　　Regarding Tong Zhuo's recent voice, China Central Broadcasting Network published a comment saying that Tong Zhuo disclosed to netizens in the live broadcast that he participated in the college entrance examination as a fake fresh graduate. This "self-exposure" has confirmed that he is both an insider and a participant. , why is there the voice of "I'm not cheating"?

　　How should we look at the case of Tongzhuo's college entrance examination fraud from a legal perspective?

On January 13, The Paper (www.thepaper.cn) interviewed a number of lawyers for interpretation.

The staff of the Education Bureau is involved in putting forged materials into the student registration file

Source of the previous bulletin from the Shanxi Provincial Department of Education: Shanxi Provincial Department of Education

　　The indictment issued by the Procuratorate of Yaodu District of Linfen City shows that after a legal review, it was found that in July 2012, Su Yingze, then the Basic Education Section of the Linfen City Education Bureau (handled separately), handled the transfer procedures for Tongzhuo in violation of regulations.

On May 30, 2020, during the investigation by the relevant departments, Su Yingze arranged for the defendants Peng Moumou and Zhang Moumou to forge relevant materials in order to complete the transfer files of Tongzhuo. The advertising department forged Quanzhuo's permanent resident population registration card and put it into the Tongzhuo student file.

　　The indictment shows that Zhang Moumou worked in a section of a bureau in Linfen City, and Peng Moumou worked in the basic education section of the Linfen City Education Bureau.

　　The procuratorate believes that the defendants Zhang Moumou, Peng Moumou, and Liu Moumou forged documents of state organs, the facts of the crime are clear, the evidence is reliable and sufficient, and they should be investigated for criminal responsibility for the crime of forging documents of state organs.

　　According to information from China Procuratorate.com, the indictment was signed on November 26, 2020, and published on the website on October 31, 2021.

　　Previously, on July 18, 2020, according to the news released by 12309 China Inspection Network, the People's Procuratorate of Yaodu District, Linfen City, Shanxi Province, in accordance with the law of Linfen City. The decision to approve the arrest of Su Yingze, a member of the party group of the Linfen Education Bureau and the chief inspector, was made on suspicion of forging documents of state organs.

The case is under further trial.

The crime of organizing cheating was entered into the Criminal Law in 2015 and is not retroactive

　　In the case of Tong Zhuo's college entrance examination fraud, Tong Zhuo himself was punished by revoking his diploma, canceling his grades, etc., and was not held criminally responsible.

　　Liu Kai, a lawyer from Beijing Zhongwen (Changsha) Law Firm, said that the provisions of "cheating into punishment" were in the "Criminal Law Amendment (IX)", which came into effect on November 1, 2015. According to the principle of non-retroactivity of the law, The relevant provisions do not apply to the Tongzhuo fraud case.

　　In addition, the relevant provisions in the "Criminal Law Amendment (IX)" are Article 25: Whoever organizes cheating in the national examination stipulated by law shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not more than three years or criminal detention, and shall also or only be fined; the circumstances Serious cases shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not less than three years but not more than seven years and shall also be fined.

Whoever provides cheating equipment or other assistance for others to commit the crime in the preceding paragraph shall be punished in accordance with the provisions of the preceding paragraph.

Whoever illegally sells or provides the test questions and answers of the examinations prescribed in the first paragraph to others for the purpose of cheating in the examination shall be punished in accordance with the provisions of the first paragraph.

Whoever substitutes others or asks others to take the examinations prescribed in the first paragraph on his behalf shall be sentenced to criminal detention or public surveillance, and concurrently or only be fined.

Judging from the current investigation, Tongzhuo's behavior does not conform to the above situation.

　　Liu Kai said that according to the analysis of the indictment issued by the procuratorate this time, the person who was prosecuted was suspected of forging documents of state organs.

This mainly involves two periods of illegal behavior. The first period was in July 2012, when Su Yingze, then the Basic Education Section of the Linfen Education Bureau, handled the transfer procedures for Tongzhuo's violations.

The second period was on May 30, 2020. During the investigation by the relevant departments, in order to complete the transfer files of Tongzhuo, the defendants Peng Moumou and Zhang Moumou were arranged to forge relevant materials. An advertising department operated by forged Quanzhuo's permanent resident population registration card and put it into the Tongzhuo student status file.

　　Liu Kai analyzed that the relevant personnel handled the transfer procedures in violation of regulations, which caused Tong Zhuo to take the college entrance examination as a fresh student and was admitted to the Central Academy of Drama.

At the same time, during the investigation of the relevant departments, in order to evade the investigation, they forged the relevant documents of the state organs. Therefore, the behavior of the relevant personnel has been suspected of constituting the crime of forging documents of the state organs.

Tong Zhuo was not criminally prosecuted for the case because he did not participate in the forgery of state agency documents.

　　Lawyer Liu Kai analyzed that, judging from the information reported by the media, Tong Zhuo was subject to relevant administrative penalties, and his grades in various stages and subjects of the 2013 college entrance examination were invalid.

At the same time, his diploma was revoked by the Central Academy of Drama, and he paid a heavy price for this.

　　Wang Luchun, a lawyer from the Shanghai Office of Jingheng Law Group, told The Paper that, strictly speaking, Tong Zhuo did not participate in the forgery of documents of state organs, and whether Tong Zhuo knew about it before, judging from the details announced by the judicial organs, it is not easy to guess. .

　　Lawyer Wang Luchun said that Article 25 of the "Criminal Law Amendment (IX)" stipulates that one of the two hundred and eighty-fourth Articles of the "Criminal Law" has been added or deleted, and three new crimes are specified, namely: [Organizing cheating in exams] crime], [the crime of illegally selling, providing test questions and answers], and the [substitute examination crime], respectively for the conduct of organizing cheating in the national examination stipulated by the law, the conduct of providing assistance to others for cheating, the implementation of substitute examinations or allowing others to cheat. The act of taking the test is defined as the criminal act corresponding to the preceding crimes.

　　Wang Luchun's analysis indicated that the relevant behaviors of examination fraud committed by Tongzhuo related persons cannot be convicted and sentenced for the crimes corresponding to the "Criminal Law Amendment (IX)" implemented later.

However, in this incident, the behavior of some people violated other prohibitive provisions of the Criminal Law at that time, and they can still be prosecuted according to the relevant provisions of the Criminal Law. For example, some people in this case were prosecuted for the crime of "forging documents of state institutions". , and the maximum penalty for this crime is 10 years in prison, and the statute of limitations has not yet passed, so it is not inappropriate to prosecute the relevant personnel on this crime.

Data as of June 19, 2020