BEIJING, Dec. 29 -- Recently, a defendant prosecuted by the People’s Procuratorate of the Donghu District in Nanchang City, China’s Jiangxi Province, was sentenced to one year in prison for sabotaging military marriage.
The court’s verdict determined that the victim Chen Qiang (pseudonym), male, who is in active service of the Chinese military, has registered to marry Wang Jie (pseudonym) in accordance with the law in September 2019. The defendant Zhou met Wang in November 2019, knowing that Wang was a spouse of active service member during their contacts. On May 5, 2020, the defendant Zhou committed to a relationship with Wang and they began to live together at Chen Qiang’s apartment until the prosecution.
The verdict held that the defendant Zhou knew perfectly well that his live-in partner had got married to someone on active service, and what he has done committed the crime of sabotaging military marriage.
According to Article 259 of the Criminal Law of the People’s Republic of China, whoever knowingly cohabits with or marries a person who is the spouse of an active serviceman shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not more than three years or criminal detention. The defendant Zhou pleaded guilty and confessed his crime, by which the above judgment was made.
