In China, there are essentially two tiers of punishment: Traditional criminal punishment, and administrative punishment. While criminal punishment in China can be harsh and unrelenting, administrative punishment is reserved for less-serious crimes and can consist of restitution, fines and up to 15 days in jail, at the discretion of police.
Ira Belkin, a former federal prosecutor and adjunct professor of law at NYU who specializes in the Chinese legal system, said one of the major questions in this case is the value of the goods that the UCLA players allegedly stole.
“That would determine whether the charges are criminal in nature or administrative,” Belkin wrote in an e-mail.
There are also political forces at play, experts said. Cohen believes the UCLA players were actually arrested “at an optimum time” given President Donald Trump’s trip to the country, which began Wednesday. Clarke agreed that politics could play a role in the outcome of the case.
“There’s no question that if the central authorities tell the Hangzhou authorities to handle the case a certain way, it will be handled that way,” he wrote in an e-mail. “That always makes things a bit more complicated, but in this case I think the complication is likely to work for the players, not against them.”
A U.S. Department of State official told USA TODAY Sports on Wednesday that the department is aware of the reported arrests and is ready to provide assistance. The official spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the case.
Cohen said the consular convention between the U.S. and China was crucial for the UCLA players, because it stipulates that the U.S. must be notified as soon as its citizens are arrested in Chinese territory. The agreement also provides that U.S. citizens be granted an opportunity to meet with representatives from the U.S. embassy, who can advise them and provide them with a list of attorneys in the area.
Even though the reported crime involving Ball and his teammates was minor, and the punishment will likely not be severe, Belkin hopes that a high-profile case of this nature will draw attention to the Chinese legal system, and whether alleged criminals there are given fundamental rights and due process.
“While people often think of human rights in connection with political dissidents and political speech, human rights also affect how ordinary people are treated in garden-variety criminal cases, even in what seems to be a minor case here,” Belkin said.
Article Appeared @https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/2017/11/08/liangelo-ball-ucla-players-arrest-china-law-experts/846856001/