Many in the defendants' dock already had ashen faces and had bowed their heads.
They seemed to have given up resisting.
BANG—
In the courtroom, Zhou Quanmin struck the gavel and asked, "Defendants, do you have any new statements regarding the accusations brought forth by the plaintiff's lawyer?"
He had witnessed the entire court defense. He had seen the "efforts" of Cheng Chuxiao and the other seventeen.
Unfortunately, these efforts were in vain.
The facts of the crime were established, beyond dispute. They had never presented any new, constructive views that could overturn the current legal proceedings.
Seeing that the seventeen defendants remained silent, he glanced at the time and said solemnly, "In that case, the free debate segment concludes. We shall now move to the final statement phase."
