Suspects Arrive in Court with Covered Heads in NE China

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Monday, April 14, 2003

Suspects Arrive in Court with Covered Heads in NE China

Four suspects wearing black head-covers appeared at the People's Court of Linghe District of Jinzhou City, northeast China's Liaoning Province, on April 2.

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Four suspects wearing black head-covers appeared at the People's Court of Linghe District of Jinzhou City, northeast China's Liaoning Province, on April 2.

This was the first time for the court in Liaoning to adopt the practice, which was introduced into China at the end of last year in large cities, including Beijing, Nanjing and Guangzhou, and is regarded as major progress made by the Chinese government in protecting human rights.

The audience in the public gallery said they could hardly tell apart the four suspects when they were brought in, except for the female suspect, who could be distinguished from the other three according to her clothes.

Court police said the cover will be taken off during the trial.

Cao Xinzhong, vice-president of the court, said that usually many people gather to watch the arraignment process and it is not possible to fully protect the suspects' legal rights if their faces are completely exposed to the public.

Local law experts said that any suspect is innocent before he or she is found guilty by the court. Therefore, their rights of privacy and honor should be well protected.

This practice was also welcomed by the four suspects.

The female suspect, who asked not to reveal her name, said thatat the beginning, she was very nervous because she thought only those who would receive serious punishment have to wear the head-cover.

"The policemen soon explained the reason to me and I feel much better," she said.

Another male suspect expressed the same relief, adding that wearing the head-cover could avoid embarrassment if he were released later.

"Besides protecting their rights of privacy and honor, to have the suspects wear a head-cover is also helpful to protect their safety and prevent them from making up fraudulent testimony together on the way to court," Cao said.

The court policemen said that to guarantee the suspects' health,this time all the head-covers are new and the used ones will be washed and disinfected at a high temperature.

According to Cao, the court considered much advice from the public before it adopted the practice and at present the black head-covers are only used on the suspects who are involved in penal cases.

Ma Roupeng, a local lawyer, said that the practice shows the government's determination to protect the rights of "special groups" and it should be extended to as many trials of different kinds of cases as possible.

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