Court upholds death sentence of Qiu Rihui

A court in Fujian province on Wednesday upheld an original ruling on the death sentence of Qiu Rihui, who hijacked a bus and drove it into pedestrians, after Qiu filed an appeal. 

On Wednesday morning, Qiu stood on trial for the second time for intentional homicide and endangering public security. The trial was open to the public, and was held at the High People’s Court of Fujian province. The judge then made the ruling in court.

After harboring grudges against a community worker for not meeting his unreasonable demands, the 49-year-old carried out several knife attacks at home, in his community and on a bus in Longyan city in December. He hijacked a bus and ran it into pedestrians, which killed eight people and injured 22 others, and also caused major losses of public and private properties, said the High People’s Court of Fujian in an open statement.

In January, the Longyan Intermediate People’s Court sentenced Qiu to death for intentional homicide and endangering public security in a dangerous manner. Qiu later lodged an appeal.

The Fujian high people’s court formed a collegial panel according to the law and heard the case publicly with members of the court’s judicial committee hearing via videoconference.

After having a discussion, the court affirmed that the original ruling was made based on clear facts and solid and sufficient evidence. It added that the conviction was accurate, the sentencing was appropriate and the trial procedure was legal.

“The appeal that the judgment was partial with wrong facts was thus not established, and the original judgment shall be upheld according to the law,” it said.