China ganagrape:4 plead guilty, general's son feigns ignorance

Four of the accused in a high profile gang-rape case in China have pleaded guilty while the fifth accused, a general's son, feigned ignorance saying he was drunk and did not know what had happened.
Four of the five accused pleaded guilty, according to the Beijing Haidian District Court that heard the case in-camera as the accused were minors.
Li Tianyi (17), son of Li Shuangjiang, dean of the music department of the People's Liberation Army, is among the five suspects whose two-day trial ended yesterday.
The court did not make clear how Li had pleaded. The Beijing News earlier reported that Li "did not admit to the sexual assault and did not admit to a relationship, saying he was drunk and did not know anything" about what happened.

Five suspects were detained on February 20 after a woman reported to the police that she was taken to a hotel and gang- raped after drinking with them in a bar on February 17.
The Haidian District People's Procuratorate filed rape charges against the five suspects on July 8 after criticism in the microblog media that the trial is getting delayed due to involvement of son of Li, who holds the rank of Major General in PLA.

The prosecutors filed the charges, saying the five men violently forced the victim to have sex, state-run Xinhua news agency reported.
The woman was beaten after she refused to have sex with them. Minor injuries were later spotted on her body.

The prosecutors said four of the accused are still juveniles and they should receive less severe punishments.
"One defendant helped the police arrest his accomplices, so his punishment can be mitigated," they said.
The verdict will be given by the Haidian District People's Court the other day after the collegiate panel adjudicates the case, Fan Jun, a judge on minor-related cases, said.
During the trial, four of the five suspects were defended after they pleaded guilty and three of them apologised to the victim, who did not participate in the trial.
"Some made offers to compensate the victim," Fan said without identifying which suspect.

Chen Shu, the lawyer representing the junior Li, told the Global Times that his client is the only one who refused to plead guilty.
Li Zaike, the lawyer who defended two of the suspects, said that four suspects admitted their mistakes.
"I am trying to get a three-year sentence with a reprieve for my clients.