Wang Fu, a partner at Beijing Xinbang Law Firm, said that Article 18 of my country’s Prison Law stipulates that “when a criminal is taken into prison, his person and the items he carries shall be strictly checked. Non-essential items shall be kept by the prison or returned to his family with the consent of the criminal, and contraband items shall be confiscated.” Contraband items are items that are strictly prohibited for criminals serving sentences in prisons, such as cash, drugs, and mobile phones. If they are not prohibited, they will undoubtedly interfere with and hinder prison management and the order of criminal reform. According to the law, the external communication of serving criminals should be regulated, so mobile phones are naturally contraband items.
An insider said that it is difficult to manage high-IQ criminals serving sentences in prisons. Once a mobile phone is in hand, the risk of using it for illegal crimes increases sharply. In fact, from legislation to local judicial administrative departments, prison administration bureaus, and then to prisons, there are strict systems for prison order and contraband management. If a prisoner in prison secretly keeps or uses a mobile phone, it is a serious violation of discipline, which is higher than a general violation of discipline. Once caught, he will not only be put in solitary confinement, but also directly affect his sentence reduction. The punishment is very severe. cell phone jammer
As early as 2006, the Ministry of Justice promulgated the “Several Provisions on Strengthening Prison Security and Stability Work”, which clearly stipulated that “those who secretly keep or use mobile phones, or secretly keep or take drugs, will be punished with solitary confinement. From the date of release from solitary confinement, they will not be allowed to apply for sentence reduction or parole within two years (except for those who have made major meritorious contributions).”
In November 2009, the Ministry of Justice issued the “Several Provisions on Strengthening Prison Security Management Work”, proposing that “prisons should install mobile phone signal shielding devices” and requiring strict implementation of the contraband inventory system to prevent criminals from possessing contraband such as mobile phones, drugs, and cash. In terms of strict police management, it is required that “a special counter for storing police mobile phones should be set up outside the prison gate, and the police officers who bring mobile phones into the prison should have their police ranks revoked.”
However, the 20 cases searched by The Paper show that most of the mobile phone disciplinary cases in prisons show the characteristics of “mobile phone rent-seeking”. Many prison guards concealed or downgraded the private possession and use of mobile phones by serving prisoners due to receiving benefits, and also provided assistance to the prisoners to apply for commutation of sentence as usual; some provided mobile phones for criminals to make calls, and some even recharged the mobile phones of criminals.
How did the mobile phone break through the layers of defense and be brought into the prison and into the hands of serving prisoners? Among the above 20 cases, except for two cases that clearly identified prison guards smuggling mobile phones into the prison for serving prisoners, in the remaining cases, there was no mention of how the mobile phone was brought into the prison and who brought it into the prison, and some showed that it was not clear.
On January 29, 2015, in response to the internal management problems exposed by the Nehe Prison case, the Ministry of Justice deployed a nationwide prison rectification campaign, and deployed special clearance of contraband and illegal items and special education activities such as “strict discipline and strict performance of duties” in prisons and drug rehabilitation centers across the country. The focus was on confiscating contraband such as mobile phones, cash, and drugs.
On March 30 of that year, the Ministry of Justice issued the “Several Provisions on Effectively Strengthening the Management of Contraband Items in Prisons and Compulsory Drug Rehabilitation Centers”, and imposed “increased penalties” on criminals who privately kept contraband. It clearly stipulates that “criminals who privately keep and use contraband items are in violation of the provisions of the Criminal Law and the Prison Law, and shall not apply for commutation of sentence or parole within three years.”
