JINAN: The mother of a man executed 20 years ago for a murder to which another person later confessed appeared in a Chinese court yesterday, as pressure builds to correct errors of justice.
The court’s reopening of the case of Nie Shubin, executed by firing squad in 1995 at the age of 20 for rape and murder, comes just a week after another court declared innocent a teenager executed on the same charges
in 1996.
The ruling Communist party is trying to ease the resentment caused by mistaken verdicts, which are fuelled by police reliance on forced confessions and the lack of effective defence in criminal trials. On Monday last week, a court in China’s Inner Mongolia region declared innocent Hugjiltu, who had been executed at age 18 in 1996 for murder and rape. Doubt was cast on the original verdict when another man confessed to the crime in 2005.
Nie’s family has been campaigning for justice without success since a serial murderer arrested in 2005 confessed to the killing for which their son was convicted. The country’s high court this month ordered authorities in Jinan, the capital of Shandong province, to
reopen the case. Nie’s mother Zhang Huanzhi, 70, entered court yesterday flanked by lawyers and court officials. AFP
