China has penalized a total of 27 officials for the wrongful conviction and execution of a man 20 years ago, state-run Xinhua News Agency reported.
The case of then 18-year-old Huugjilt, who was executed after being declared guilty of raping and murdering a woman in a public toilet, is considered as one of the most infamous judicial injustice in the country.
One of the blacklisted officials responsible for the conviction was Feng Zhiming, who was suspected of job-related crimes, the statement from the officials of the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region said.
Feng, who previously served as the deputy chief of the Xincheng District branch of the public security bureau of Hohhot, the region's capital, is also subject to further investigation, the report added. He may face criminal charges if found guilty.
The official statement further noted that the other 26 officials were levied with administrative penalties. These include record of demerit and admonitions, among others.
Moreover, the blacklist shows the involvement of 11 former police officers assigned at the Hohhot's public security bureau and at its Xincheng District branch in the wrongful conviction. Among those on the list is the former chief of the bureau, Wang Zhi.
Also listed are seven former officials with Hohhot's people's procuratorate including its former head, Wen Da; five former officials from the higher people's court of the said autonomous region; and three more from the intermediate people's court in the regional capital.
In 2005, Huugjilt's conviction was first called into question after a serial rapist confessed to the court about the crime.
Back in 2014, the court said in a statement: "The Inner Mongolia Higher People's Court finds Huugjilt's original guilty verdict . . . not consistent with the facts and there is insufficient evidence. Huugjilt is found not guilty."
The judicial injustice's victim's tearful parents were granted with 30,000 yuan as an expression of the court's sympathy.
Last year, Zhao Zhihong, the real convict, was given death penalty.
Meanwhile, Ms. Shang, the mother of Huugjilt, expressed outrage as only one person would face criminal investigation for his son's wrongful conviction. "These people don't even have the courage to admit their mistakes and recognize their wrongdoing," she remarked in an interview with the Global Times,
"How can they handle legal cases impartially in the future?" Shang further said.
"I'm not asking everyone to be punished. I'm just seeking justice," she shared in one television interview.
Last year, the government has stepped up its efforts to intensify its campaign of pressuring prosecutors to carry out the law justly.