Man executed for murder found innocent
Supreme People’s Court reverses high-profile 1995 verdict
Nie Shubin, a young man from North China’s Hebei Province who was convicted and executed in 1995 for the rape and murder of a woman, has his conviction overturned by the Supreme People’s Court (SPC) on Friday.
Nie’s father told news site thepaper.cn that after more than 20 years, his family had finally received justice, and they were grateful for every person who had helped them in their fight.
Experts pointed out that the landmark case reflects a huge progress of China’s judicial reform, manifest- ing the country’s determination of rehabilitating grievance and pursuing judicial equity.
The SPC delivered the verdict to the claimant and prosecutors, and compensation, judicial aid and action against those accountable will follow, the Xinhua News Agency reported on Friday.
The SPC said in a statement on Friday that they revoked the previous conviction based on insufficient evidence and unclear facts.
A number of wrongful convictions have been publicized in the past years, raising concerns over miscar-
riages of justice.
Doubtful conviction
Nie was convicted in 1995 of raping and murdering a woman in the outskirts of Shijiazhuang, capital of North China’s Hebei Province, and was executed the same year at the age of 21.
However, in 2005, 47-yearold Wang Shujin was apprehended by police for three unconnected rape and murder cases, and confessed to the rape and murder of the same woman in Nie’s case. Wang was sentenced to death in unconnected rape and murder cases in 2007.
In December 2014, the SPC assigned Shandong Provincial High People’s Court to review the case, which found there were too many questions about the previous trial to uphold the conviction.
After being extended several times, in June of this year the SPC said it would reopen the two-decade-old rape and murder case over concerns that the evidence presented was insufficient.
The SPC finally ruled that evidence in Nie’s case was lacking; the tools used to commit the crime could not be confirmed; the time and cause of death could not be confirmed; several key documents, including some records of the questioning of Nie and witnesses, had been lost; and that the truth and legitimacy of Nie’s confession were questionable.
Qin Qianhong, a law professor at Wuhan University in Central China’s Hubei Province, told the Global Times that the overturning of Nie’s conviction, though a little bit late, is an example of the implementation of rule of law and a demonstration of social progress and judicial justice.
“It showed that China attaches great importance to human rights and will help judicial organs to gain more trust among the public,” sad Qin.
The SPC said that it is also an important achievement in improving the judicial system and preventing cases from being wrongly adjudicated, which will have a positive impact on the credibility of judiciary, while also serving as a painful lesson to ensure that such a tragedy is not repeated.
Mo Hongxian, a criminal law professor at Wuhan University, told the Global Times that “it is very rare for the SPC to designate a court in another place to review a case, which to the greatest extent guaranteed the impartiality and credibility of the review, setting an example for the future correction of wrongful convictions.”
The Communist Party of China (CPC) set a new blueprint for rule of law during the Fourth Plenary Session of the 18th CPC Central Committee held in Beijing in October 2014, promising sweeping judicial reforms while hailing the overarching role of the Constitution in the country’s legal system.
According to a communique issued after the meeting, the overall target of the CPC’s current drive to advance rule of law is to form a system serving “the socialist rule of law with Chinese characteristics.”
Legal repercussions
Nie’s case also triggered concerns over the legal repercussions for the accountable parties.
Chen Guangwu, the lawyer for Nie’s case, told the Global Times on Friday that after all these years, truth could be finally revealed to the public, despite huge obstruction from then Hebei judicial authorities and other officials.
Chen said after he took the case, an inmate who knows Nie had told him that the inmate was told several times by prison officials not to talk about anything related to Nie’s case.
The Hebei Provincial High People’s Court said in a statement on Friday offered a “sincere apology” to Nie’s family, and said that they would immediately begin a compensation application process, and launch an investigation into its role in the case.
“Holding the related parties accountable should be open to the public,” said Mo.