2024-08-14
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Wang Wei, a native of Laohekou City, Xiangyang, Hubei, mined carbonaceous shale within the scope of the mining license in the Laohekou administrative area. The Qiaozhuang Village Committee of Xianghua Town, Xichuan County, Nanyang, Henan believed that Wang Wei's mining in the village actually controlled the land, infringed the village's land ownership and use rights, and sued Wang Wei. Along with the civil case was a criminal case: Wang Wei was listed as an online fugitive by the Xichuan County Public Security Bureau for suspected illegal mining.
After the civil case dismissed the plaintiff Qiaozhuang Village's lawsuit, the criminal case also made final progress. On August 13, the Dengjianxingbusu (2024) No. 126 decision obtained by Upstream News (reporting email: [email protected]) stated: The existing evidence cannot prove that Wang Wei illegally mined, and it was decided not to prosecute Wang Wei.
The disputed area is located in Hubei Province in terms of administrative divisions, but Qiaozhuang Village in Henan Province claims that it is actually under the control of the village. Map by Upstream News reporter Niu Tai
After 13 years and multiple lawsuits, the village committee's infringement lawsuit was dismissed
A report published by Upstream News titled "Ten Years of Land Dispute between Hubei and Henan: Billionaire Goes Bankrupt and Borrows Money to Buy Social Security" shows that to the southeast of Danjiangkou Reservoir, which straddles Hubei and Henan provinces, there is a mountain called Meiyaogou Mountain, which stretches for several kilometers. The mountain contains a large amount of carbonaceous shale, which can be used as raw material for cement production. An open-pit mine on Meiyaogou Mountain, about 100 meters away from the border between the two provinces, belongs to Henan or Hubei. The officials of the two places and the parties involved have different opinions on whether it belongs to Henan or Hubei.
Relevant evidence shows that in January 2006, the former Land and Resources Bureau of Xiangyang City, Hubei Province, issued a mining license to Wang Wei, and Wang Wei obtained the mining rights of 0.1136 square kilometers of Meiyaogou Mountain. In 2010, after the mine manager Wen Xinhua fell out with Wang Wei due to a dispute, he turned to the Qiaozhuang Village Committee of Xichuan County, Henan Province. The village committee filed a lawsuit for infringement and brought Wang Wei to court.
In April 2012, the Xichuan County Court ruled at first instance that Wang Wei must immediately stop his infringing activities after mining to about 100 meters within the area of Qiaozhuang Village; three months later, the Nanyang Intermediate Court upheld the original judgment at second instance; in December 2013, the Henan Provincial High Court rejected Wang Wei's application for retrial; Wang Wei applied for a protest from the Nanyang Procuratorate, which decided not to accept the case.
Wang Wei continued to report the matter. In May 2020, the Nanyang Intermediate People's Court decided to initiate a retrial. In October of the same year, the Nanyang Intermediate People's Court made a civil ruling (2020) Yu 13 Min Zai 94, stating that the facts were unclear and the evidence was insufficient, and revoked the original first and second instance judgments and sent the case back to the Xichuan County Court for retrial.
On July 19, 2021, the Xichuan County Court issued the Civil Judgment No. (2020) Yu 1326 Minchu 3699: Wang Wei violated the "actual control area" and "actual occupation area" of Qiaozhuang Village in Yanghuagang Village, Laohekou City, and Wang Wei lost the case again.
On November 16, 2021, the Nanyang Intermediate People's Court issued a civil judgment (2021) Yu 13 Min Zhong Min Zhong No. 4887: Both parties agreed that Wang Wei's mining area was within the administrative area of Hubei; there was no correlation between mining within the scope of the mining license and whether Wang Wei enjoyed the right to use the land; the court did not determine whether Wang Wei was mining within the scope of his mining license. Wang Wei lost the case again.
On March 16, 2023, the Henan Provincial High Court issued a civil ruling (2022) Yu Min Shen No. 2474: According to relevant regulations, disputes over land ownership and use rights shall be resolved through negotiation between the parties; if the negotiation fails, the people's government shall handle it. The court should not make a determination on the ownership of the disputed land in civil proceedings. Based on the above analysis, the original trial was improper in accepting the case and conducting a substantive trial, and the Nanyang Intermediate People's Court was ordered to conduct a retrial.
On August 31, 2023, the Nanyang Intermediate People's Court issued the Civil Ruling No. (2023) Yu 13 Min Zai 52: The retrial held that the two parties had no dispute that the land involved in the case was within the territory of Hubei Province, but had disputes over the possession, use, and management rights of the land involved in the case. The substantive handling of this case involves the identification of the ownership and use rights of the disputed land. According to the Land Administration Law, disputes over land ownership and use rights shall be resolved through negotiation between the parties; if no agreement is reached through negotiation, the matter shall be handled by the people's government. The people's court should not make a determination on the ownership of disputed land in civil proceedings.
During this trial, the Nanyang Intermediate People's Court revoked the original judgment and ruled to dismiss the Qiaozhuang Village Committee's lawsuit against Wang Wei for infringement.
The decision not to prosecute made by the Dengzhou Procuratorate in Henan Province (Photo provided by the interviewee)
After being a criminal suspect for 10 years, I am finally no longer one.
While the civil case was going on, Wang Wei encountered a criminal case filed by the Xichuan Public Security Bureau: At the end of 2014, Wang Wei was listed as an online fugitive by the Xichuan County Public Security Bureau of Henan Province on suspicion of illegal mining in Qiaozhuang Village. After that, Wang Wei accepted the police investigation and was released on bail pending trial.
The decision of Dengjianxingbusu (2024) No. 126 states that on December 23, 2021, the Intermediate People's Court of Nanyang City, Henan Province designated the Dengzhou Municipal People's Court to hear the case. The Xichuan County Public Security Bureau transferred the case to this court for prosecution on March 2, 2022, on the grounds that the non-prosecuted person Wang Wei was suspected of illegal mining. Due to unclear facts and insufficient evidence, this court returned the case to the investigation agency for supplementary investigation for the first time on March 2, 2023, and the investigation agency re-investigated and reported on December 15, 2023.
The Xichuan County Public Security Bureau transferred the case for prosecution and determined that: In March 2006, the non-prosecuted person Wang Wei first mined anthracite in Huagang Village, Hongshanzui Office, Laohekou City, Hubei Province. Soon after, Wang Wei violated the provisions of the Mineral Resources Law and crossed the provincial border without authorization to enter the neighboring Henan Province, Xichuan County, Xianghua Town, Qiaozhuang Village, Qiaogou Group, Meiyaogou Mountain to mine anthracite. During this period, law enforcement officers from the Xichuan County Land and Resources Bureau went to the scene many times to order him to stop mining, but Wang Wei refused to stop mining, causing serious damage to mineral resources. According to the appraisal of the Henan Provincial Land and Resources Science Research Institute, Wang Wei mined 75,400 tons of anthracite across the provincial border, causing damage to mineral resources worth 3,770,000 yuan (three million seven hundred and seventy thousand yuan).
The decision shows that after the Dengzhou Procuratorate reviewed and returned the case for supplementation, the Procuratorate still believed that the criminal facts identified by the Xichuan County Public Security Bureau were unclear and the evidence was insufficient. First, the "Liuwan Carbonaceous Shale Mine Survey Report of Xiaoshan Carbonaceous Shale Mining Field in Laohekou City" made by Henan Badu Land Planning and Design Co., Ltd. shows that the scope of Wang Wei's illegal mining at the Henan Provincial Institute of Land and Resources is not within the scope of the mining license. However, the entrusted unit of Henan Badu Land Planning and Design Co., Ltd. is the Xichuan County Mineral Resources Management Station. At this time, Wang Wei's illegal mining case has entered the criminal investigation stage. The main body of the investigation is the Xichuan County Public Security Bureau, which is entrusted by the Xichuan County Mineral Resources Management Station instead of the Xichuan County Public Security Bureau. The entrusting entity does not comply with the law.
Secondly, in September 2014, commissioned by the Xichuan County Land and Resources Bureau, the Henan Provincial Land and Resources Science Research Institute conducted on-site investigation, measurement and evidence collection, and issued the "Report on the Value Appraisal of Wang Wei's Coal Mine Beyond the Provincial Boundary in Qiaozhuang Village, Xianghua Town, Xichuan County, Henan Province" based on relevant documents, reports, laws and regulations, and combined with the price certification report, and reached an appraisal conclusion, but the appraisal report did not determine whether Wang Wei exceeded the scope of the mining area or the scope of mining specified in the license. After the original Henan Provincial Land and Resources Science Research Institute reconciled, it was found that Wang Wei's illegal mining scope overlapped with the scope of the mining license, and there was no evidence to prove that Wang Wei mined beyond the scope of the mining area specified in the license and the volume and value of mining.
The decision stated that the existing evidence could not prove that Wang Wei violated the provisions of the Mineral Resources Law and mined without a mining license. The circumstances were serious or particularly serious and did not meet the conditions for prosecution. In accordance with the regulations, it was decided not to prosecute Wang Wei.
Wang Wei was filled with mixed emotions as he pointed to the disputed area behind him Photo/Upstream News reporter Niu Tai
Wang Wei, 63, said that he once had assets of over 100 million yuan, and that civil and criminal cases consumed a lot of his time and energy, and he was once so poor that he had to borrow money to buy social security. Now that the matter has finally been resolved, he is ready to start a new life. "I now sell tea for a few yuan a cup at a stall by the Han River. I will take my time and keep a positive attitude."
Upstream News reporter Niu Tai