1m yuan sought in wrongful jailing
By Wang Xiang |
May 12, 2010, Wednesday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
THE family of a central China farmer who was freed after 11 years in jail for a wrongful murder conviction said they would seek 1 million yuan (US$146,413) in compensation.
Zhao Zuohai, a villager in Henan Province, burst into tears and bowed to judges after they ordered him released on Sunday.
He had been sentenced to death with a two-year reprieve for murdering Zhao Zhenshang, who appeared again alive this month.
Zhao Zhenshang's reappearance shocked villagers who buried a headless body allegedly belonging to him 11 years ago and raised concern that the police had tortured Zhao into confession.
Zhao Zuohai said he knew he didn't kill his neighbor but confessed to the crime nine times in interrogation after being tortured by police for months in 1999, Beijing News reported yesterday.
He thanked the guards in prison for being so considerate and treating him well during his prison time. His penalty had been commuted to 29 years because of his good behavior.
Zhao Zuohai's brother-in-law said the police made Zhao Zuohai sit on a beer bottle during the interrogation, and forced him to drink chili water and exploded firecrackers on his head when he was sleepy, according to a former report.
Zhao Zuolan, the convict's sister, said Zhao Zuohai told her the police could have killed him during interrogation.
Upon his return from the presumably dead, Zhao Zhenshang said he fled the village in 1999 because he feared he might have killed Zhao Zuohai in the fight. Zhao Zhenshang said he had no regrets for Zhao Zuohai's plight.
A local prosecutor Song Guoqiang said he remembered sending Zhao Zuohai's case back for investigation for lack of evidence. But the whole case entered a reckless fast lane after a headless and limbless body was found in the village and provincial authority ordered that all murder cases be cleared in a limited time.
Song said the court ignored the failure of a DNA test to generate any solid evidence against Zhao Zuohai and the fact it could not even confirm the identity of the body, sending him to death row solely on his confessions.
Zhao Zuohai, a villager in Henan Province, burst into tears and bowed to judges after they ordered him released on Sunday.
He had been sentenced to death with a two-year reprieve for murdering Zhao Zhenshang, who appeared again alive this month.
Zhao Zhenshang's reappearance shocked villagers who buried a headless body allegedly belonging to him 11 years ago and raised concern that the police had tortured Zhao into confession.
Zhao Zuohai said he knew he didn't kill his neighbor but confessed to the crime nine times in interrogation after being tortured by police for months in 1999, Beijing News reported yesterday.
He thanked the guards in prison for being so considerate and treating him well during his prison time. His penalty had been commuted to 29 years because of his good behavior.
Zhao Zuohai's brother-in-law said the police made Zhao Zuohai sit on a beer bottle during the interrogation, and forced him to drink chili water and exploded firecrackers on his head when he was sleepy, according to a former report.
Zhao Zuolan, the convict's sister, said Zhao Zuohai told her the police could have killed him during interrogation.
Upon his return from the presumably dead, Zhao Zhenshang said he fled the village in 1999 because he feared he might have killed Zhao Zuohai in the fight. Zhao Zhenshang said he had no regrets for Zhao Zuohai's plight.
A local prosecutor Song Guoqiang said he remembered sending Zhao Zuohai's case back for investigation for lack of evidence. But the whole case entered a reckless fast lane after a headless and limbless body was found in the village and provincial authority ordered that all murder cases be cleared in a limited time.
Song said the court ignored the failure of a DNA test to generate any solid evidence against Zhao Zuohai and the fact it could not even confirm the identity of the body, sending him to death row solely on his confessions.
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