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Zhou Zhenglong (C), the farmer who shocked China with his fake photo of the endangered South China tiger, goes on trial on Saturday in a local court in northwest China's Shaanxi Province.(Xinhua Photo) |
XI'AN, Sept. 27 (Xinhua) -- Zhou Zhenglong, the farmer who shocked China with his fake photo of the endangered South China tiger, went on trial on Saturday in a local court in northwest China's Shaanxi Province.
The Xunyang County People's Court began the trial at 8:30 a.m. Zhou was accused of fraud and owning bullets illegally.
The 54-year-old man from Zhenping County claimed to have photographed the tiger with a digital camera on the afternoon of Oct. 3 last year, and was rewarded by the Provincial Forestry Department with 20,000 yuan (2,915 U.S. dollars).
But doubts arose immediately on the Internet, as some netizens found an old Lunar New Year commemorative poster in which the tiger resembled that in his photo.
Police later arrested him after seizing an old tiger poster, which Zhou allegedly borrowed from a farmer in another village in September last year to produce his photos. They also found a wooden model of tiger claw.
According to the testimony of Zhou's son Zhou Song, the father once made him look for tiger posters and asked whether the posters could be used to take pictures. The son said no to his father. Butafter the tiger photos came out, the son knew his father had fabricated them.
At the court, Zhou Zhenglong claimed all the fabrication was done by himself and no others participated in it.
The trial continued as of Saturday noon. The court had more than 100 audience.
| Editor: Wang Hongjiang |
