Chapter 196 The largest prosecution case in the Mainland
The legal team was quickly formed, with Professor Han from the Peking University Law School as the chief lawyer. Based on the principle of territoriality, the legal team submitted the complaint to the three-level courts in Beijing.
There were hundreds of newspapers that had spread the scandal about Liu Hongmin, and the case immediately attracted the attention of the court. The evidence submitted by Professor Han and others was very sufficient, so they had to file a case and then mail subpoenas to various newspapers.
The case, which involved suing hundreds of newspapers, immediately caused a stir in the capital. The Xinguang Daily immediately followed up and reported the case.
Because the mailing system requires sorting and other processes, before the court summons were sent to those remote areas, those newspapers saw that they were being sued from the Xinguang Daily.
The newspapers did not take this seriously. They did not have much legal knowledge and simply considered themselves as units that were accountable only to their superiors.
After receiving the subpoena, they did not take it seriously at all, and even threw it away directly. They thought that they were far away from the emperor, and no matter how powerful the capital was, it could not control them. Not to mention that it was just a civil dispute, even if it was a public matter, they would not care.
But they could not imagine that civil disputes can still be heard in court even if the defendant is not present.
The lawyers formed by Liu Hongmin listed the evidence one by one. Liu Hongmin was wealthy, and the economic losses caused by his reputation damage were also sky-high, reaching more than 1260 million. Add to that more than 540 million in mental damages, a total of 1800 million. If the compensation is based on this price, these newspapers will have to pay at least yuan, and at most or yuan, which is more than their annual budget.
There is no precedent for this kind of case in the country, so the third-level court did not dare to ask the newspaper to pay compensation according to the market price.
However, Professor Han and others have great influence, and their demands are legally binding. Therefore, the three-level courts also felt the pressure and dared not make arbitrary judgments.
Fortunately, because there was too much evidence, the three levels of courts in Beijing had a chance to catch their breath. While checking the evidence, they asked the higher court for instructions and hoped to obtain legal aid.
The second-level court had not encountered such a situation and continued to ask for instructions. The first-level court was also in a dilemma and could only continue to ask for instructions.
Soon, they got the hint. The judgment was passed all the way to the three-level court, and the three-level court immediately had a clear idea. After a few days of checking the evidence, the court sentenced the more than 1062 newspapers to compensate Liu Hongmin for economic losses of 103 million yuan and mental damages of 1165 million yuan, a total of million yuan. The minimum compensation for each newspaper was yuan, and the maximum was yuan.
After the verdict was notified, it was mailed to various newspapers again. After receiving the verdict, the newspapers did not take it seriously at all.
"Liu Hongmin is really dreaming. He thinks that he can ask us to pay compensation just because he has the court judgment. He is simply dreaming."
"It is said that the richer people are, the stingier they are. It is totally unreasonable that Liu Hongmin still owes us this little money."
"Liu Hongmin is really good at making money! He can make more than 10 million yuan from just one case."
After the verdict was handed down, it immediately caused an uproar. In the current economic environment, the emergence of a case with a compensation of tens of millions is like setting off a mushroom bomb, which instantly caused a great discussion across the country.
Those who support the verdict believe that those rumormongers should pay the price. Especially since Gong Xue had just fled to the United States due to rumors spread by the media, her supporters hated the media that spread the rumors. Now they sympathize with Liu Hongmin's experience.
Those who opposed the verdict thought that the punishment was too severe. If the verdict was always like this, then one could get rich just by filing a complaint. They took the words out of context. After all, Liu Hongmin's net worth was there. Not to mention 10 million, even 100 million was a drop in the bucket for Liu Hongmin.
Amid the chaos, Liu Hongmin did not receive any compensation. He did not expect the newspapers to compensate him, but waited until the compensation deadline in the court judgment expired and published an article in the New Light Daily.
The direction of public opinion changed instantly, and many people followed suit. Whether they really wanted to speak up for Liu Hongmin or just followed the trend, they all became the vanguard of the crusade against those newspapers.
Those newspapers were immediately put in a passive position. They had never expected that things would turn out like this. When dealing with Gong Xue, there was no such thing. Why is it different when it comes to Liu Hongmin? Even if he is a representative, he should not have such great power!
Obviously, these newspapers underestimated Liu Hongmin's influence and even more underestimated Xiyuan's emphasis on Liu Hongmin.
Liu Hongmin's legal team began to visit the whole country, directly contacting the superior units of these newspapers, stating the facts and demanding that these newspapers that did not abide by the law be punished. Faced with national pressure, many places had to give in and directly shut down the newspapers.
Anyway, these newspapers are only subordinate to the local newspapers, not directly under the local government, and are not important to the local government. Moreover, after being self-financing, the economic situation of these newspapers is not very good, and they still need funding from them. Now that they are closed, they can save some money in the future.
Under such circumstances, it would be better to go with the flow and give Liu Hongmin some face.
Sure enough, after they shut down the newspaper, they immediately received a call from Liu Hongmin. During the call, Liu Hongmin promised to invest in building a factory locally or acquire a bankrupt factory within the next three years.
In August, Fengtian Explosion-Proof Factory went bankrupt and liquidated. Many factories across the country that could no longer hold on began to enter the countdown. This situation occurred in various places. Liu Hongmin promised to purchase the bankrupt factories, which was a big solution for them.
With this example, other places did not need to wait for the arrival of the lawyers, and directly shut down those newspapers. Before the New Year of 1987, all newspapers that spread rumors about Liu Hongmin were closed down, leaving no one.
The closure of so many newspapers at once sent shockwaves through the media across the country. It was also the first time they knew that Liu Hongmin had such a capability.
After this incident, the media direction across the country immediately returned to the right track. After all, the cost of spreading rumors is too high and no one can afford it.
The editors and reporters who caused the closure of the newspaper immediately became the target of public criticism, and those who lost their jobs because of it hated them. Many people were put on the road at night with sacks over their heads and beaten.
Some were even severely injured and had to stay in bed for more than half a year.
Old man surnamed Wang watched as newspaper offices were shut down one after another, his subordinates lost their jobs one after another, and they couldn't even support their families. He became so angry that he couldn't breathe and was admitted to the hospital.
After examination, he was diagnosed with a stroke, hemiplegia and aphasia, and had to leave his job.
(End of this chapter)
