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zhou xiaolan from ningxiang city, hunan, was troubled by the noise and dust from the construction and took action to protect her rights. three construction companies successively proposed to compensate zhou xiaolan and reached an "agreement". these three "agreements" made zhou xiaolan bear the crime of "extortion". after the appeal, the hunan provincial high court issued a "retrial decision". after the retrial, the changsha intermediate court decided that "this case will be handled as zhou xiaolan's withdrawal of the appeal", which made zhou xiaolan have a different opinion.

a woman reported the construction company for disturbing the residents and was ordered to pay more than 10,000 yuan in compensation

zhou xiaolan encountered a troublesome matter since august 2017. because of a construction project near her home, nearly a hundred dump trucks came and went every night, and the large amount of dust and long-term roar made her miserable.

"these dump trucks usually work from about five in the afternoon until the next morning. the dust is so great that the room is full of dust, and the long-lasting roar prevents me from falling asleep at night." zhou xiaolan told jinyun reporters that she originally thought this situation would only last for a few days, so she wanted to put up with it, but later saw that the construction showed no sign of stopping, so she reported it to the village committee, and later reported the matter to the environmental protection bureau, urban management bureau, and the citizen hotline.

a "changsha city 12345 citizen service hotline work order" received on august 8, 2017 shows: "citizens called to report that there have been many dump trucks entering and exiting the shishan brick factory in shitoukeng village, chengjiao township (now chengjiao street) for five or six consecutive days, resulting in a lot of dust. please ask the relevant departments to solve the problem." changsha city 12345 responded that month that it had received multiple complaints about this matter, and each complaint was rectified and fed back according to procedures.

after reporting the problem, the construction continued as usual every night, and zhou xiaolan's problem was not effectively solved. "i saw that my report and complaint had no effect, so i found the construction unit and asked them to reduce dust during construction, adjust the working hours, and stop disturbing the residents." zhou xiaolan said that the construction unit did not pay attention to her request at first, so she chose to block the muck truck on the road it must pass.

in order to complete the project as soon as possible, the three construction companies proposed that zhou xiaolan move out of the house and stay in a hotel, and reimburse the expenses. this request was rejected by zhou xiaolan who was reluctant to leave her home: "if i leave, i won't know if the house or furniture is damaged, and i won't be able to explain it, so i didn't agree." zhou xiaolan told the jinyun reporter that the construction company later offered to give her some compensation and asked her not to report it again.

on august 20, 2017, december 28, 2017, and april 8, 2018, the three construction companies reached three "dispute agreements" with zhou xiaolan, paying compensation of 4,500 yuan, 4,000 yuan, and 2,000 yuan respectively, and signed and confirmed them. the three "noise and dust dispute agreements" also noted the corresponding legal provisions, that is, units and individuals harmed by environmental noise pollution have the right to require the perpetrator to eliminate the harm or make mental compensation.

the court found that the crime constituted extortion

what zhou xiaolan didn't expect was that the 10,500 yuan compensation became evidence of her "extortion".

a year later, in august 2019, zhou xiaolan was detained by the police on suspicion of extortion; she was approved for arrest on september 4 of the same year. on january 2, 2020, the procuratorate brought a public prosecution against her.

the indictment shows that the ningxiang people's procuratorate alleged that from 2017 to 2018, construction slag trucks often passed by the road near zhou xiaolan's self-built house. zhou xiaolan threatened to stop the trucks on the road and demanded fees from the construction parties, threatening them to pay a total of 10,500 yuan. the prosecutor believed that zhou xiaolan had repeatedly extorted money from others in large amounts, and her behavior violated relevant provisions of the criminal law. the criminal facts were clear, and the evidence was solid and sufficient, so she should be held criminally responsible for extortion.

during the trial, zhou xiaolan argued that the dump truck had violated her legal rights and interests, and that the dust and noise nuisance agreement signed with the dump truck was a true expression of the intention of both parties and a civil act, which did not constitute extortion. after the two parties signed the agreement, the infringement issue had been properly resolved. at the same time, the case was initiated and accepted for extortion without a clear reporter, which was a procedural violation.

after trial, the ningxiang municipal people's court held that relevant evidence showed that the house in question was not the only house zhou xiaolan must live in. zhou xiaolan used the pretext of having to live there and for the purpose of obtaining illegal benefits to obstruct work many times, forcing the victim and the victim's unit to sign a "dispute agreement" with her, thereby achieving her illegal purpose of extorting money. her behavior constituted the crime of extortion.

in july 2020, the ningxiang municipal people's court made a first-instance judgment on the case: zhou xiaolan extorted property from others for the purpose of illegal possession many times, and the amount was large. her behavior constituted the crime of extortion, and zhou xiaolan was sentenced to one year in prison and two years of probation.

hunan high court orders retrial

zhou xiaolan, who was convicted of extortion, believed that she was wronged and had been appealing to a higher court. on december 30, 2022, the hunan provincial high court issued a "retrial decision" stating that after review, the court believed that zhou xiaolan's "extortion" case met the conditions for retrial and instructed the changsha intermediate court to form a collegial panel for retrial.

the hunan high court ordered the changsha intermediate court to conduct a retrial, which gave zhou xiaolan hope of a not guilty verdict. at the same time, zhou xiaolan also submitted a "jurisdiction objection application" to relevant units, pointing out that the changsha intermediate court should not intervene in the retrial of the case, and that the jurisdiction should be changed and the hunan high court should conduct a higher-level trial or a trial in a different place. her request was not responded to.

on december 28, 2023, the changsha intermediate people's court issued a "criminal ruling" stating that zhou xiaolan "refused to come to this court to participate in litigation activities after being notified many times in accordance with the law, and refused to appear in court for the trial without a legitimate reason." the case was handled as the appellant zhou xiaolan withdrew the appeal.

after zhou xiaolan went to the court to inquire about the situation, she learned that the changsha intermediate court had previously called her and sent a "flash message" to her mobile phone; zhou xiaolan ignored it, which became evidence of her "refusal to participate in litigation activities."

"during the appeal stage, i had already filled in my name, phone number, and detailed address on the relevant written materials, and clearly stated that i did not accept electronic delivery." zhou xiaolan was puzzled. why didn't the changsha intermediate people's court issue her a paper subpoena?

zhou xiaolan told the jinyun reporter that during this process, the other party neither delivered the subpoena to her in person nor mailed it, nor did they seek to summon her from the local public security department. only a person claiming to be a staff member of the changsha intermediate court called her. she asked the other party's name and specific position, but the staff on the other end of the phone did not tell her.

"i don't trust this kind of online case handling. i don't know who the other party is or what their identity is. who knows if they are scammers?" zhou xiaolan believes that she has studied law over the years and knows some basic things. she believes that "article 107 of the criminal procedure law stipulates direct service and retention service, that is, summonses, notices and other litigation documents should be delivered to the recipient in person; if the recipient is not there, they can be given to his adult family member or the person in charge of his unit for collection." therefore, she insists that "the method of informing the so-called court opening information only by phone or flash message constitutes a serious procedural violation."

the reporter learned that in may this year, zhou xiaolan submitted a criminal appeal to the changsha intermediate court again, requesting the revocation of the criminal ruling that "zhou xiaolan's appeal should be handled as withdrawn" and her sentence changed to not guilty. the judge of the changsha intermediate court interviewed her and listened to her appeal in person.

however, more than four months have passed, and zhou xiaolan has not received any news about the request to revoke the criminal ruling that "zhou xiaolan will withdraw her appeal." "appeals have occupied most of my life in the past few years, but i have to continue to appeal. i can't just bear a criminal record for no reason." zhou xiaolan said.

(reporter guo qiang from tianjin news)