The son of a senior police officer is to stand trial in China, a lawyer said yesterday, after causing an uproar by apparently trying to use his father’s status to escape the scene of a deadly hit-and-run.
Li Qiming (李啟銘) — who in October allegedly hit two students, killing one, while driving drunk in Hebei Province — is to be tried today, said Hu Yihua (胡益華), a lawyer for the victim’s family, refusing to provide more details.
The 22-year-old is said to have challenged people to sue him when he tried to flee the scene of the accident, shouting “my father is Li Gang (李剛).”
He was referring to the deputy director of the public security bureau in a district of the city of Baoding, where the incident happened.
The case triggered a torrent of outrage on the Chinese Internet over what many saw as an example of the brazen high-handedness of top officials and their families, with the story spilling over into state-controlled traditional media.
Police subsequently arrested the young Li.
The family of Chen Xiaofeng (陳曉鳳), the pedestrian who was killed, was then reportedly told to stop talking about the case, after receiving compensation of 460,000 yuan (US$69,870).
Chen Lin (陳林), the victim’s brother, told the official Global Times newspaper his mother felt “threatened” by their local village chief, Shi Changcun (史長存), who told her the family’s identity cards would be confiscated until the trial ended.
Shi also said police would escort them to the court in Wangdu County.
“You now have only one child left. Do not try to cause any trouble,” he told her, according to Chen Lin.
Shi has denied he threatened the family, the report said.
Chen Lin also said in a previous report that he wanted Li Qiming to be punished according to the law.
“But I am afraid that is not going to happen, considering Li’s family background,” he was quoted as saying.
The Wangdu court was not immediately available for comment.
A new online voting system aimed at boosting turnout among the Philippines’ millions of overseas workers ahead of Monday’s mid-term elections has been marked by confusion and fears of disenfranchisement. Thousands of overseas Filipino workers have already cast their ballots in the race dominated by a bitter feud between President Ferdinand Marcos Jr and his impeached vice president, Sara Duterte. While official turnout figures are not yet publicly available, data from the Philippine Commission on Elections (COMELEC) showed that at least 134,000 of the 1.22 million registered overseas voters have signed up for the new online system, which opened on April 13. However,
EUROPEAN FUTURE? Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama says only he could secure EU membership, but challenges remain in dealing with corruption and a brain drain Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama seeks to win an unprecedented fourth term, pledging to finally take the country into the EU and turn it into a hot tourist destination with some help from the Trump family. The artist-turned-politician has been pitching Albania as a trendy coastal destination, which has helped to drive up tourism arrivals to a record 11 million last year. US President Donald Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, also joined in the rush, pledging to invest US$1.4 billion to turn a largely deserted island into a luxurious getaway. Rama is expected to win another term after yesterday’s vote. The vote would
ALLIES: Calling Putin his ‘old friend,’ Xi said Beijing stood alongside Russia ‘in the face of the international counter-current of unilateralism and hegemonic bullying’ Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) yesterday was in Moscow for a state visit ahead of the Kremlin’s grand Victory Day celebrations, as Ukraine accused Russia’s army of launching air strikes just hours into a supposed truce. More than 20 foreign leaders were in Russia to attend a vast military parade today marking 80 years since the defeat of Nazi Germany in World War II, taking place three years into Russia’s offensive in Ukraine. Putin ordered troops into Ukraine in February 2022 and has marshaled the memory of Soviet victory against Nazi Germany to justify his campaign and rally society behind the offensive,
Myanmar’s junta chief met Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) for the first time since seizing power, state media reported yesterday, the highest-level meeting with a key ally for the internationally sanctioned military leader. Senior General Min Aung Hlaing led a military coup in 2021, overthrowing Myanmar’s brief experiment with democracy and plunging the nation into civil war. In the four years since, his armed forces have battled dozens of ethnic armed groups and rebel militias — some with close links to China — opposed to its rule. The conflict has seen Min Aung Hlaing draw condemnation from rights groups and pursued by the
RSS