Society

Wrongly jailed man gets state compensation

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2010-05-13 16:52

ZHENGZHOU - A man who was wrongly jailed for over 10 years for murder was compensated 650,000 yuan (US$96,000), authorities in central China's Henan Province said Thursday.

Wrongly jailed man gets state compensation

This photo taken on May 12, 2010 shows Zhao Zuohai, who had been wrongly imprisoned for over 10 years, returned to the home of one of his relatives in Tuocheng County, central China's Henan province. [Photo/Xinhua]

The amount includes state compensation and allowances, according to a ruling made by the Intermediate People's Court in Shangqiu City on Wednesday.

Zhao Zuohai, 57, received the compensation Thursday morning from Song Haiping, president of the intermediate court, a court official said at a joint press conference with the province's Higher Court.

He said the compensation was made in line with the state compensation law.

Zhao had spent more than 10 years in jail when the man he allegedly murdered turned up alive on April 30. Zhao was declared innocent and was acquitted on May 9.

Prof. Liu Defa with Zhengzhou University's Law School spoke highly of the court's efficiency in its compensation ruling. "Hopefully the belated justice will help ease Zhao's pains."

Zhengzhou resident Ren Xianguo, however, held the compensation was too little compared with Zhao's sufferings over the years.

When Zhao was in jail, his wife remarried, two of his four children were adopted while the other two left to become migrant workers.

"It's impossible to undo his miseries or heal his trauma," said Ren. "The compensation is more an apology -- and relief for the victim and the whole society."

After his acquittal Zhao told reporters he had been forced to confess to murder, as he was beaten up during interrogations and was tortured in order to stay awake for more than 30 days. "It was better to be dead than alive," he told the Beijing News.

Wang Jianmin, Party chief of the political and legislative affairs committee of Shangqiu city, shakes hands with Zhao Zuohai (front left) on May 11, 2010. Wang apologized to Zhao for a wrongful conviction that jailed him for the past decade. [China Daily]

Local police, court and prosecuting authorities are investigating the case and have promised to penalize those responsible for the wrong conviction.

Two police officers have been detained on suspicion of torturing Zhao to extract confession and a third one is still at large.

"Confessions extracted through torture are unreliable," Shangqiu's police chief Xu Dagang told Xinhua Wednesday. "Police officers should learn to handle criminal cases in a more intelligent and scientific manner."

Zhao's suffering reminded the public of a similar case in 2005, when a man, after serving 11 years in jail in the central Hubei Province for murdering his wife, was proven innocent after the woman turned up alive. The man, She Xianglin, said he had confessed to the crime under police torture.

She Xianglin received 450,000 yuan in state compensation and social security allowances.