A Chinese man convicted of murdering two children has had his conviction
overturned after serving 27 years in prison, in what has been described
together of the longest-serving miscarriages of justice in recent Chinese history.
Zhang Yuhuan, 53, was freed on Tuesday after the Supreme People's Court in eastern Jiangxi province found him "not guilty" on the idea of a scarcity of sufficient evidence, Chinese state media Global Times reported.
The result came after a long-running legal battle to overturn the conviction, and highlights ongoing issues within China's system .
In 1993, two boys were found dead within the city of Nanchang, Jiangxi province, consistent with the report. Police suspected the boys' neighbor Zhang of killing them.
In 1995, Zhang was sentenced to death with a two-year reprieve, meaning his death sentence would be commuted to a life if he didn't commit the other crimes within a two-year period, state-run China Daily reported.
But Zhang appealed to a better court, arguing that he wasn't the killer and claimed that police had tortured him during interrogation, consistent with the report.
The higher court ordered a retrial, but that wasn't held until November 2001, China Daily reported. The intermediate court upheld the first judgment, and a later appeal was rejected.
Zhang and his family continued to insist that he was innocent -- and eventually in March last year, the Jiangxi Supreme People's Court reopened the case, consistent with the report. On Tuesday, he was found acquitted .
"After we reviewed the materials, we've found there's no evidence which will prove Zhang's conviction. So we accepted the prosecutors' suggestion and have declared Zhang innocent," judge Tian Ganlin was quoted as saying.
Zhang can now apply for state compensation, Global Times reported.
According to the China Daily report, Zhang said the wrongful conviction had cost him the simplest years of his life. His two sons are now married and have their own children.
"It's hard for the compensation to form up for the damage of the wrongful conviction to me and my family, but I still hope to urge compensated quickly to repair my house and look after my mother," Zhang said.
Criminal justice
For years, human rights advocates have criticized China's system , alleging that it allows unfair trials, torture and other ill-treatment in detention.
China has made attempts to reform its system . consistent with the worldwide Times report, China officially adopted the judicial principle of "innocent until proven guilty" in 1996.
In 2013, an influential Communist Party legal commission issued new guidelines posing for fairer due process of law in China's much maligned court system.
However, problems with the country's system remain. China's judiciary features a conviction rate of around 99%, consistent with legal observers. It also remains beholden to the ruling Communist Party . Courts are seen first and foremost as a "political organ," consistent with the country's judge Zhou Qiang.
It remains uncommon for people to possess convictions overturned -- although Zhang isn't the primary .
In 2013, a person who served 17 years of a life for murdering his wife was freed after a better People's Court in Anhui province ruled that the "facts about the alleged homicide were unclear and therefore the evidence inadequate."
In 2016, China's top court overruled a rape and conviction of Nie Shubin -- quite 20 years after he had been executed.
Ruan Chuansheng, a law professor at the Shanghai Administration Institute, said that the ruling in Zhang's case showed the advancement of the rule of law, consistent with China Daily. But he also said judicial authorities could help prevent wrongful convictions by excluding evidence gained through torture.
NEWS SOURCE:CNN button
Zhang Yuhuan, 53, was freed on Tuesday after the Supreme People's Court in eastern Jiangxi province found him "not guilty" on the idea of a scarcity of sufficient evidence, Chinese state media Global Times reported.
The result came after a long-running legal battle to overturn the conviction, and highlights ongoing issues within China's system .
In 1993, two boys were found dead within the city of Nanchang, Jiangxi province, consistent with the report. Police suspected the boys' neighbor Zhang of killing them.
In 1995, Zhang was sentenced to death with a two-year reprieve, meaning his death sentence would be commuted to a life if he didn't commit the other crimes within a two-year period, state-run China Daily reported.
But Zhang appealed to a better court, arguing that he wasn't the killer and claimed that police had tortured him during interrogation, consistent with the report.
The higher court ordered a retrial, but that wasn't held until November 2001, China Daily reported. The intermediate court upheld the first judgment, and a later appeal was rejected.
Zhang and his family continued to insist that he was innocent -- and eventually in March last year, the Jiangxi Supreme People's Court reopened the case, consistent with the report. On Tuesday, he was found acquitted .
"After we reviewed the materials, we've found there's no evidence which will prove Zhang's conviction. So we accepted the prosecutors' suggestion and have declared Zhang innocent," judge Tian Ganlin was quoted as saying.
Zhang can now apply for state compensation, Global Times reported.
According to the China Daily report, Zhang said the wrongful conviction had cost him the simplest years of his life. His two sons are now married and have their own children.
"It's hard for the compensation to form up for the damage of the wrongful conviction to me and my family, but I still hope to urge compensated quickly to repair my house and look after my mother," Zhang said.
Criminal justice
For years, human rights advocates have criticized China's system , alleging that it allows unfair trials, torture and other ill-treatment in detention.
China has made attempts to reform its system . consistent with the worldwide Times report, China officially adopted the judicial principle of "innocent until proven guilty" in 1996.
In 2013, an influential Communist Party legal commission issued new guidelines posing for fairer due process of law in China's much maligned court system.
However, problems with the country's system remain. China's judiciary features a conviction rate of around 99%, consistent with legal observers. It also remains beholden to the ruling Communist Party . Courts are seen first and foremost as a "political organ," consistent with the country's judge Zhou Qiang.
It remains uncommon for people to possess convictions overturned -- although Zhang isn't the primary .
In 2013, a person who served 17 years of a life for murdering his wife was freed after a better People's Court in Anhui province ruled that the "facts about the alleged homicide were unclear and therefore the evidence inadequate."
In 2016, China's top court overruled a rape and conviction of Nie Shubin -- quite 20 years after he had been executed.
Ruan Chuansheng, a law professor at the Shanghai Administration Institute, said that the ruling in Zhang's case showed the advancement of the rule of law, consistent with China Daily. But he also said judicial authorities could help prevent wrongful convictions by excluding evidence gained through torture.
NEWS SOURCE:CNN button
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