China clears man of murder after 27 years behind bars
beijing — A Chinese court has overturned the murder conviction of a man who spent 27 years behind bars for the crime, in a highprofile case that has thrown a spotlight on police torture in the justice system.
Zhang Yuhuan, 52, was jailed for the murder of two young boys in 1993 but always maintained he was tortured by police and forced to confess.
After serving nearly three decades in jail, a court in east China exonerated Zhang on Tuesday, citing insufficient evidence to support his conviction.
“After we reviewed the materials we found there is no direct evidence that can prove Zhang’s conviction,” the Jiangxi High People’s Court said. “So we... have declared Zhang innocent.” Zhang was originally given a death sentence in 1995 but it was commuted to life imprisonment after he served two years in jail. He was China’s longest-serving wrongfully convicted inmate.Following several unsuccessful appeals, the court in March last year finally agreed to retry the case. —