Death Sentence 'Criminal' Released

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Sunday, June 02, 2002

Death Sentence 'Criminal' Released

In an unusual case, a Chinese public prosecutor has withdrawn charges because of reasonable doubt against a murder and robbery case suspect who earlier had been sentenced to death.

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In an unusual case, a Chinese public prosecutor has withdrawn charges because of reasonable doubt against a murder and robbery case suspect who earlier had been sentenced to death.

The Hainan Branch Office of the Hainan Provincial People's Procuratorate recently issued a formal decision not to prosecute Liu Rongbin, who was alleged to have killed and robbed a woman.

Previously Liu had been sentenced to death by the Hainan Intermediate People's Court on the charges.

Liu has been set free recently. The case has rocked law experts and ordinary people alike as it is very rare for a death sentence made by a Chinese court to be revoked.

Liu, aged 37 and a native of Quanzhou City, in east China's Fujian Province, went to Danzhou City, in south China's Hainan Province, and found a job there in 1989.

On May 25, 1999, a robbery took place at 125, Datong Road. The woman owner of the apartment, surnamed Qiu, died after being beaten about the head, and 1,000 yuan (about 120 U.S. dollars) in cash was stolen from her.

One time when Liu was drunk, he told someone he had killed Qiu. Before long Liu was reported to the local police and arrested on October 20, 2000. During the interrogation, Liu admitted committing the murder.

However, he withdrew his confession when his case was transferred to the Hainan branch prosecutors office. The branch concluded from its investigations that Liu was guilty of robbery and murder and charged him on February 12, 2001.

After a trial the Hainan Intermediate People's Court on May 14 handed down a ruling in which Liu Rongbin was sentenced to death. Liu later lodged an appeal to the Hainan Higher People's Court.

Liu was so poor that he could not afford to hire a lawyer. The Hainan Provincial Legal Aid Service asked Mao Qijun, a lawyer with a local law firm, to defend Liu. The lawyer soon found four contradictory points in Liu's case and decided to plead Liu's innocence in his appeal.

On November 27, 2001, the Hainan Higher People's Court made a final judgment that because of contradictory facts and lack of sufficient evidence, the ruling given at the initial trial by the Hainan Intermediate People's Court should be revoked. It ordered a retrial of Liu's case. And then Liu was set free later.

Though Liu was released, Lin Rong, deputy procurator-general with the Hainan branch office, said the case was not over and asked the police at Danzhou City to make additional investigations.

But according to Cui Yongfu, head of the Hainan Provincial Legal Aid Service, Liu's case was a mistake. Cui pledged to continue to provide Liu with legal aid, including supporting him in getting state compensation.

Despite all the arguments, the end result itself is meaningful. Li Hanjun, an associate professor with the Legal Sciences College of Hainan University, said for a long time, the kind of thinking which prevailed in China's judicial circles was concerned with wiping out all evils and strictly enforcing the law.

He said the practice to some extent followed the time-honored belief of preferring to "kill one thousand by mistake instead of letting one go free", which is now considered as a good example of rule of man. However, the rule of law is gradually dominating social and economic life in the country.

In 1996, China made an historic breakthrough with its revised " Criminal Litigation Law" which established the principle that criminal cases that raised reasonable doubt should be dismissed.

"Liu Rongbin's release is a fair judgment and follows the spirit of the rule of law, guaranteed by the principle stipulating criminal cases which raise reasonable doubt should be dismissed: even if you know he killed the woman, the court could not convict him because of a lack of sufficient evidence," said the associate professor.

Gu Jianqiu, deputy chief with the litigation section of the Hainan Provincial Public Prosecutors Office, said they hoped to use Liu Rongbin's case for education about the rule of law.

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