Courts are the bottom line for justice
Wang Xing, lawyer for Zhou Yuan, whose conviction was quashed last year
Iread and reread the materials related to Zhou’s case, and also spoke with judges and other people involved in his appeal, but I was unable to unearth any new evidence.
The case remained dormant until November 2015, so I wrote to the trial committee at the High People’s Court of the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region, hoping they would speed up the appeal process.
Sometimes, as a defense lawyer, I have no other way of pushing an appeal forward.
To my surprise, the letter did the trick, and the court restarted its review of Zhou’s case.
I think my biggest contribution was helping Zhou and Li Bizhen, his mother, to bear the pressures and difficulties related to the case.
When I spoke with Li, she was able to recall every detail of the appeal and every conversation she had had with the judges in the previous 10 years.
Although I fully understood Li’s burden and appreciated her hard work, when I heard her complaints about the court’s delay in handling the appeal, I had to persuade her to be patient and tried my best to help her understand the difficulties judicial officers face.
The worst time came in April 2016, when Li was diagnosed with lung cancer.
I was shocked when I heard. Some friends who are doctors helped to find a hospital for Li in Beijing, but when I contacted her she had already arranged to have surgery in Urumqi, capital of Xinjiang.
I could sense her deep desire for life. She told me: “I cannot die before my son’s appeal is heard.”
Although the surgery was successful, Li was still afraid Zhou would not be cared for even if his name was cleared and he got compensated.
Wrongful convictions may occur again if we are unable to correctly implement every legal procedure.” Wang Xing, lawyer
She began making arrangements for her funeral and other affairs. I felt very depressed when she came to me for help.
Luckily, the regional high people’s court decided to retry the case in October 2016, and finally, we heard the good news that Zhou’s conviction had been overturned.
The wrongful conviction and the long wait for correction reflected the poor state of law enforcement in the past and insufficient protection of human rights.
Wrongful convictions may occur again if we are unable to correctly implement every legal procedure and ensure that evidence gained illegally, including forced confessions, is not used in court.
When handling lawsuits, judicial officers should focus on the evidence and legal procedures to prevent flawed convictions because courts are the bottom line for justice.
All in all, we urgently need a mechanism to prevent wrongful convictions. If not, the correction process will be like killing mosquitoes during summer — an endless task.