The law explicitly forbids them since 1989, but they have never entirely disappeared. The 24 detainees taken to the local sports hall with signs hanging around their neck with their name and alleged crime. Analysts: "It is a throwback to the days of Mao Zedong".

Beijing (AsiaNews) - A court in Huarong County, in south-central Hunan province, held a public trial of 24 common criminals. Although the law explicitly prohibits this practice, a legacy of the days of Mao Zedong, more than 5 thousand people gathered to watch the proceedings. The accused were brought into the local sports hall on an open truck; all of them had a sign around their neck with their name and alleged crime (see photo).

The first eight were convicted of kidnapping, rape and robbery; eight others, accused of fraud and drug trafficking, were sentenced to "criminal detention"; the remaining were arrested for manslaughter and robbery. The trial was held by police, district prosecution and local court. The public was stacked with members of the local government and neighboring municipalities.

The decision to celebrate a public trial is actually against the law. A circular issued in 1989 by the Supreme People's Court, the Ministry of Public Security and the National Prosecutor prohibits public appearance of those who have been sentenced to death and who have not yet received a conviction. In 1992, a new directive extended the ban to "all criminals and suspects".

Despite this, in recent years, public hearings seem to be back in fashion. In the county of Guandi, after a mass trial, the local party secretary said: "It's a good deed that won the heart of the people, pleased them and cheered them greatly. It is a way, says a local source, "to keep people happy,  they can cheer against criminals and feel protected by justice." The leader of Huarong have refused to comment.

According to some analysts, the move to return to public trials is another piece of the "maoization"  process in act by the central government. Xi Jinping, the current president and General Secretary of the CCP, has re-launched several moralizing campaigns typical of the Great Helmsman - first of all against corruption - and now seems determined to revive even the old uses of the Cultural Revolution.

 

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