德國學生用鞋子丟溫家寶判無罪確定

[windmill]

Cambridge Shoe Thrower Is Cleared

Time

By Henning Hoff / Cambridge Wednesday, Jun. 03, 2009
German student Martin Jahnke leaves Cambridge Magistrates' Court

Leon Neal/AFP/Getty

http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1902486,00.html

After two days of arguing about a lightweight brown sneaker that had been lobbed at Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao as he spoke at Cambridge University earlier this year, the verdict came with an air of denouement. On Tuesday, German biomedical research student Martin Jahnke, 27, who had tossed his footwear onto the stage during Wen's speech in protest over China's human-rights record, was found not guilty of a public order offense by the Cambridge Magistrates' Court.

There had been no disagreement over the facts of the case. On Feb. 2, as Wen was wrapping up his speech "See China in the Light of Her Development" to the students of the venerable English university, Jahnke started blowing a whistle and shouting, asking how the university could "prostitute itself" by letting a "dictator" speak. As university staff moved to evict him, Jahnke threw one of this shoes toward the podium, missing the Premier by three feet, before following officials and police out of the auditorium without resistance.

Wen was unharmed and unfazed, but Cambridgeshire police charged Jahnke with causing "harassment, alarm, and distress" to the Chinese Premier and the students present. On Tuesday, District Judge Ken Sheraton ruled that there was insufficient evidence to prove that the alleged crime had in fact been committed. But the judge didn't let Jahnke off lightly. "You leave the court with an acquittal," Sheraton told the student, "but also with a warning for your future conduct." And with that verbal slap on the wrist, a line was drawn under a case that leaves unanswered questions about Chinese-British diplomacy and freedom of speech.

Why, for example, were charges pressed in the first place, when unruly students are usually dealt with by Cambridge University internally? (Cambridge has no plans to do so in Jahnke's case: "Martin has no reason to fear any adverse consequences in ... the University," professor William Brown, head of Jahnke's college, told TIME in an e-mail. "We respect his freedom of expression.") British politicians regularly have things thrown at them by protesting members of the public — in 2001, someone threw an egg at then Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott, who famously threw a punch back, and more recently, Business Secretary Peter Mandelson was the victim of a green-custard attack by an environmentalist. But cases like those don't usually end up in court.

Jahnke's lawyer argued that there had been pressure from the Chinese government to put his client on the stand. The claim was strongly denied by the prosecution, and the court ruled that there was no evidence of that. It remains unexplained, however, why the only witnesses who claimed that Jahnke's behavior had caused them anything resembling "harassment, alarm and distress" were Chinese students who had initially been contacted by a London law firm acting on behalf of the Chinese embassy.

Jahnke hadn't meant to hurt anybody with the shoe, he told the court. By throwing it at the podium, he had simply wanted to make an "iconic protest" against China's human-rights abuses. He was inspired, he said, by journalist Muntazer al-Zaidi — known as the Iraqi shoe thrower — who took aim at U.S. President George W. Bush in Baghdad in December 2008. Al-Zaidi was imprisoned for three years, though his sentence was recently reduced to one year. Shoe-throwing has since become a universally recognized gesture of defiance against a "regime that is not accountable to anybody and reigns with violence," Jahnke said. But, he added, it is not, in itself, a violent act.

In fact, Jahnke hadn't expected to be the only protester in the hall, he told the court. He had brought a whistle only to join in. When Wen — who was, according to Jahnke, greeted by a standing ovation — and his speech went unchallenged, Jahnke decided to go it alone. He was "terrified," he said, and to his surprise, no one supported him.

Two days before the anniversary of the Tiananmen Square massacre, Jahnke was acquitted of any wrongdoing for his symbolic act against the Chinese government. But how symbolic is it that in Britain — which prides itself on its history of democracy, free speech and debate — he found himself speaking out alone, and then sitting in a criminal court?

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Shoe protester cleared after protest at Chinese premier

Martin Jahnke, a postdoctorate student who threw a shoe at Wen Jiabao, the Chinese prime minister, during a lecture at Cambridge University, has been cleared of any offence.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/5430674/Shoe-protester-clear...

Published: 7:37PM BST 02 Jun 2009

The District Judge said there was insufficient evidence to prove that Jahnke behaved in a way likely to cause harassment, alarm or distress.

The judge found Mr Jahnke not guilty following a two-day trial at Cambridge Magistrates' Court.

The court heard that Jahnke, 27, a medical researcher at Cambridge University, staged his protest on April 2, when the Chinese premier was lecturing students in Cambridge.

He disrupted the speech by blowing a whistle, calling the Chinese leader a "dictator", saying the university had "prostituted" itself by allowing Wen Jiabao to speak, then throwing his left training shoe towards the stage.

Jahnke, who is German and moved to the UK after studying in Berlin, maintained that he was making a "legitimate protest" and had not intended to harm anyone.

The Chinese premier did not appear at the hearing and no statement made by him was read out in court.

Prosecutors presented evidence from three Chinese students at the lecture, as well as police and security staff.

District Judge Ken Sheraton told Jahnke that the not guilty verdict should not be seen as an indication that the court condoned his behaviour.

And he warned Jahnke about his future conduct.

After the hearing, Jahnke said in a statement read by a lawyer: "I am very pleased with the result.

"I would like to thank all those members of the public who have supported me, including the Chinese community.

"I hope now attention can move away from me to the real issue of human rights in China."

Legal sources estimate that the taxpayer will be left with a bill running into thousands of pounds as a result of the trial.

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二OO九年六月三日【12:15】

向溫家寶丟鞋判無罪 中國網民不滿

自由時報即時新聞報導

英國劍橋法院日前判決，向中國總理溫家寶丟鞋的德國學生無罪，此事引發中國網民的不滿，有人說判決結果顯示對中國的輕視；還有人譏諷，下回英、德兩國元首訪中國，中國也可擲鞋回敬。

劍橋法院當地時間2日判決，今年稍早時在溫家寶演講時向這名中國領導人丟鞋抗議的德國學生楊克（Martin Jahnke）無罪。

這項判決結果讓中國留英學生失望；北京「環球網」的調查顯示，超過7成受訪中國網民認為判決不公。

調查從昨天上午開始，截至昨天下午1時，已經有8000多名網民投票，超過7成2認為判決「不公」，認為「公正」或「無所謂」的則各有1成9與0.8成。

許多網民認為，判決結果顯示對中國的輕視。

有網民說，英國開了不好的先例，如此無法保障包括英國在內的其他國家領導人遭到同樣對待。

另有網民留言，中國政府與溫家寶對德國青年的擲鞋行為非常包容，但「他們卻認為我們好欺，我們是該給點顏色給英國人瞧瞧了。」

甚至有網民譏諷，英國首相或者德國總理下次訪問中國時，「我們也用同樣的方式回敬他們」。