Website publishes ‘killer’s letter’
Print Edition
AN ONLINE news website yesterday published a letter it claimed was sent by death row inmate Lin Senhao to his lawyer.
According to thepaper.cn, the former Fudan University student, who was found guilty of fatally poisoning his roommate two years ago, issued an appeal to attorney Si Weijiang to continue to represent him despite Lin’s father having earlier asked the lawyer to step down.
Lin’s case is set to be reviewed by the Supreme People’s Court’s, and the inmate said he wants to retain his legal team of Si and fellow lawyer Tang Zhijian, the report said.
“People think I can defend myself, but I don’t think so,” Lin was quoted as saying.
Thepaper.cn did not say how it got hold of the document.
“A Chinese saying goes that facts speak louder than words ... I did poison my roommate Huang Yang so I must admit it,” Lin is said to have written.
The alleged letter continued: “The judicial process is like a battle. It will be a disadvantage for us to change a general before the war starts. I see Si and Tang as my two generals whose morality, ability and responsibility make me believe in them.
“This is my fate. I can’t escape from what I deserve and shouldn’t get what doesn’t belong to me.”
The website claimed that Lin wrote the letter to Si after hearing that his father on June 5 asked him to stand down.
It did not say how it had acquired such information.
According to the report, the letter to Si read: “I wrote to you to invite you to be my lawyer and help me again. I genuinely hope you can take my advice, even though there will be some pressure.
“You spent much time and effort on my case, and even triggered a Ôreverse’ (an apparent reference to the lawyer’s claim in court that Huang died not from poisoning but from hepatitis B) during the second trial. I hope you can be back!”
Under Chinese law, the guardians or direct relatives of suspects under detention can employ lawyers on their charges’ behalf, but only with their approval.
Tang, the second member of Lin’s defense team, told Shanghai Daily that he would continue to represent his client regardless of any requests made by his father.
Lin, 28, was found guilty of poisoning Huang in March 2013 by adding a toxic chemical he pilfered from a university laboratory to a water dispenser. Huang fell ill after drinking the water and died soon after from organ failure.
In his first trial at the Shanghai No. 2 Intermediate People’s Court in February last year Lin was found guilty of intentional homicide and sentenced to death. The ruling was upheld at an appeal hearing at the Shanghai Higher People’s Court on January 8 this year.
The case is now pending review by the Supreme Court, which is standard practice for all death penalty rulings. The top court can uphold or overrule the sentence.
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