Niu Yuqiang has been described as China's last hooligan, which conjures up a utopian vision of a society that has eradicated anti-social behaviour. The reality is rather more dystopian.
In 1984, 21-year-old Niu was sentenced to death, suspended for two years, for stealing a cap and public brawling in Beijing, under a campaign against disruptions of social order. He was later resentenced to life, then to 18 years. In 1990, he was medically paroled for a year with a form of tuberculosis, then for another year. Though he fully recovered, officials never sought to return him to jail. Niu thought he was a free man, especially after hooliganism was scrapped as a crime, and he married and had a son. But in 2004 the wheels of inept bureaucracy finally turned full circle. The authorities turned up on his doorstep and took him back into custody to serve the remainder of his sentence. He has been denied credit for time on parole, meaning he will not be free until 2020. Lawyers are now campaigning for his release.
Hooliganism was a catch-all charge used to silence political dissent. It was also used, as in Niu's case, as an instrument of moral authoritarianism. To legal scholars, however, what sets his case apart is that there are no complications to achieving justice, like official corruption or cover-ups. Nor is Niu at fault, since he never stopped reporting to his probation officer and complying with the conditions of his parole, thus fulfilling the legal obligations of his sentence. The issues are bureaucratic bungling and legal procedural questions. This has led to appeals for his release grounded on jurisprudence. Sadly, what Niu's case does have in common with many others is an abiding authoritarian aversion to admitting mistakes.
China's 'second-last hooligan', one of many arrested in connection with the June 4, 1989, crackdown on student protesters, was released only last year. The law was repealed in 1997, though intolerance of dissent was maintained in new legislation. It would help bring closure to the injustices inflicted in its name if the last hooligan were freed too.
