China man seeking US$2.4 mln for wrongful death sentence

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BEIJING: A Chinese man who was freed after six years on death row following a wrongful murder conviction is seeking US$2.4 million in compensation, state-media said yesterday, amid public anger over the country’s flawed legal system.

Nian Bin, a former food-stall owner who was convicted of poisoning two children and condemned to death in 2008, was finally freed after a court quashed his conviction in August.

His case went through multiple appeals, with lawyers arguing that the evidence against him was insufficient and saying police had tortured him to obtain a confession.

Nian on Thursday applied for 15 million yuan (US$2.4 million) in compensation from the government at a court in east China’s Fujian province which had upheld his death sentence three times, the China Daily reported citing his elder sister.

He also requested the court make a public apology through the media, it added.

“Eight years of life cannot be bought back with money,” the sister, Nian Jianlan said, referring to the entirety of her brother’s ordeal since his 2006 arrest.

“We hope that by asking for compensation and an apology, the culprit judges can have more respect for life and the law,” she added.

Nian, 38, told a previous court hearing that police had hung him from a hook and beaten him until he confessed, reports said.

Acquittals in China’s Communist-controlled court system are extremely rare — 99.93 per cent of defendants in criminal cases were found guilty last year, according to official statistics. — AFP