Belated justice

On March 26, 2013, Zhang Gaoping and his nephew Zhang Hui, two truck drivers from Anhui province, were acquitted on rape and murder charges. They had been wrongly convicted of the rape and murder of a woman who they offered a ride to in 2003. Zhang Hui received a suspended death sentence and Zhang Gaoping was sentenced to 15 years in prison by Zhejiang High People’s Court. In 2011, the DNA found in the fingernails of the victim was found to be from a man who had been executed in 2005 for rape and murder. On May 17, 2013, the two men each received compensation of about 1.1 million yuan ($180,500).

On Aug 13, 2013, Yu Yingsheng, 51, a former public servant from Bengbu, Anhui province, was acquitted on the charge of murdering his wife. He had been suspected of his wife’s murder at their home on Dec 2, 1996, because no fingerprints or DNA of other people was found in the home. Anhui High People’s Court ruled there was not enough evidence to prove Yu committed the murder. The court said Yu can apply for compensation but no news about compensation has been reported yet.

On April 3, 2013, Wang Shencai, 64, a farmer from Haozhou city, Anhui province, was acquitted on a murder charge. A villager from his village was killed on Dec 2, 2008, and Wang was charged after taking polygraph tests three times in 2009. The court sentenced him to death, then reduced the sentence to death with two years reprieve, life in prison and 15 years in prison. Anhui High People’s Court ruled the facts were not clear and there was insufficient evidence. Wang has applied for compensation of 920,000 yuan.

On Sept 6, 2010, Zhang Zhenfeng, a farmer from Luyi county, Henan province, was released after being detained for three years and four months. Zhang was arrested on charges of burglary and rape on June 3, 2007, with four other people. The DNA of the seminal fluid found in the victim’s body did not match Zhang’s, but that evidence was concealed by a policeman named Yu Pengfei. Zhang was found innocent when a man confessed that he and two others robbed and raped the women. Zhang was awarded more than 100,000 yuan from the government after he was released.