Society
Doctoral student preparing court battle
By Chen Weihua (chinadaily.com.cn)
Updated: 2010-07-07 13:25
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NEW YORK - The Elizabeth Detention Center in New Jersey is a facility where suspected illegal immigrants, including asylum seekers, are held, awaiting decisions on their immigration status or deportation. Only 15 miles from downtown Manhattan, the warehouse structure is the new home for Zhai Tiantian, a former doctoral student at the Stevens Institute of Technology.
Zhai, facing charges of making terrorist threats after he allegedly said he would burn down the school building, was moved here from the Hudson County Correctional Center last Friday.
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However, such an outcome is no surprise to 26-year-old Zhai, who had earlier hoped that the immigration jail would have much better conditions. "Zhai said the situation in the new jail is better than the previous one. But the difference is not that much. He lives in a room with seven or eight others, and there is no window," Zhai's immigration case lawyer Hai Ming told China Daily yesterday afternoon after finishing his phone call to his client.
Zhai might not be in the worst part of the jail. The Elizabeth Detention Center, which has a total of 300 beds, has various rooms for six to 43 people.
It should be better than the Hudson County Correctional Center where inmates have criminal backgrounds, Angela Vereen, secretary to the warden at the Elizabeth jail, told China Daily.
At the Hudson County jail, Zhai had complained of being beaten by fellow inmates and gangs in the prison.
Hai Ming said Zhai was in a better mood before moving to the immigration jail after he learned that he could be on bail without submitting his passport. The bail posted has also been lowered from the previous $20,000 to $1,500. "Since his passport was confiscated by the immigration authorities months ago, Zhai was unable to turn over his passport for bail as previously required," Hai Ming said.
On the phone yesterday, Zhai discussed with Ming the immigration court hearings which will open on July 8 and 15. "I hope the court would not make a deportation ruling and I hope the criminal court would find him not guilty," Hai Ming said.
Leo Hurley, a prosecutor at the Hudson Country Prosecutor's Office, is the one handling Zhai's case. He told China Daily on the phone yesterday (Tuesday) that the case has not been presented to the grand jury yet. "We are still conducting an ongoing investigation surrounding the case," said Hurley, who refused to talk any further.
Hai Ming, though an immigration lawyer, said the prosecutor does not really have any evidence of pushing the charges. "It should not be easy to determine Zhai's guilt since there is no recording of the phone conversation," he said.
Hai Ming was angry that Zhai had been held for nearly 90 days before any trial and for just saying something that cannot be proved. "They found no match, lighter, gasoline, diesel or nothing relevant from his computer," he said.
Zhai had staged a hunger strike in the Hudson County Correctional Center on June 24. He ended the strike on June 28 after getting the news about his release on bail and after being comforted by Hai Ming and personal friend Wang Meiying.
His case officer in the Elizabeth immigration jail yesterday described Zhai as in good health. But he did not give his name.
His father, Zhai Taishan, a chief engineer at a food company in Central China's Hunan province, is still trying to come to the US to help on his son's case.
Zhai's fate has become an international incident, with stories widely quoted by the Chinese news media. Some have described the case as racial discrimination and flaw of the US justice system, while others said he deserves punishment for what he said.
Raymond Wong, president of the Wong, Wong & Associates, who has been consulted by the Chinese consulate in New York on the case, said Zhai's criminal lawyer should actively approach the prosecutor to strike a deal. Wong does not believe Zhai's case is a serious one, but said that if there is no agreement by the two sides, the outcome won't be good.
Officials at Stevens Institute of Technology, which is only 10 miles from the immigration jail where Zhai is held, have not responded to China Daily's call yesterday. Stevens has many Chinese students and has conducted many exchange programs with universities in China.
Zhai, from Xi'an in Northwest China's Shaanxi province, first enrolled at Stevens in 2003. He received both his bachelor and Master's degrees there. He was pursuing his doctoral degree when the school suspended him on March 11. School officials described the suspension as a result of Zhai's major violations of the student code of conduct. But officials gave no details of the violations, citing privacy of students.
Local US media reported that Zhai was arrested by the New York Police Department for second degree aggravated harassment after a March 5 visit to Manhattan.
Zhai was accused of making that call in mid-April. School authorities reported the case to the authorities, resulting in his arrest.
If convicted guilty of making terroristic threat, Zhai could face a jail term of three to five years under New Jersey law.