Police apologizes to 2 men wrongly convicted

Zhejiang police has apologized to two men and their families for a wrongful conviction that resulted in the imprisonment of the two innocent men for about 10 years.

"The police were responsible for the investigation. We deeply apologize to the people involved," Zhejiang Provincial Public Security Department said in a statement published on its website on Thursday night.

"The Zhejiang public security authority has urged its subordinate body in Hangzhou to cooperate with related departments and investigate the law enforcement processing of this case, correct the wrong doings, find out those responsible, and avoid masking or protection," the statement said.

The Zhejiang Provincial High People's Court on Tuesday reversed its 2004 ruling that included a death sentence with a two-year reprieve for Zhang Hui and a 15-year prison term for his uncle, Zhang Gaoping, for raping and murdering a woman in Hangzhou, 10 years after the men were convicted and sent to jail.

"The acquittal was rendered, as there was new evidence showing the possibility of another suspect. Evidence presented during the previous trial was not enough to support the conviction," the court said in a notice.

Earlier reports said that investigators had found another suspect whose DNA matches that collected from the murdered woman's body.

The suspect was executed in 2005 for intentional manslaughter and theft in another case.

The verdict from the first trial said that Zhang Hui and Zhang Gaoping transported the woman in their truck early in the morning on May 19, 2003. Police found the woman's body in a roadside ditch at about 10 am the same day.