In Chinese courts, “death sentence with reprieve” means that if the convicted person commits no crime for two years, it is commuted to life imprisonment. (Photo : Getty Images)
A man was released from prison on Monday after spending 21 years incarcerated in Hainan Province in South China for a homicide and arson he did not commit, as reported by the Global Times.
The High People's Court of Zhejiang Province was tasked with reviewing the case. The court said on Monday that the charges against Chen Man, now 53 years old, cannot be upheld because of insufficient evidence in the case.
Wang Wanqiong, Chen's lawyer, said that Chen holds the record for the longest jail term for a wrongful conviction known in China.
In Nov. 1994, Chen was sentenced to the death penalty with two-year reprieve for "killing a man and setting his house on fire to cover up the crime."
In Chinese courts, "death sentence with reprieve" means that if the convicted person commits no further crime during the two-year period directly after his sentence, it is commuted to life imprisonment. The sentence is more often used than the actual death penalty as a way to give a person life imprisonment and communicate the gravity of the crime at the same time.
Chen told the Global Times on Monday via phone interview that he was happy about the court's decision. He also plans to start an online business.
"I am eager to start a new life and take good care of my parents, who are in their 80's," said Chen.
Wang said that Chen would apply for state compensation.
"The compensation would be around 3 million yuan ($456,000) based on Chen's mental and physical suffering," said Wang.
Zhejiang's Higher People's Court reopened Chen's case in Dec. 2015 after it was instructed by the Supreme People's Court (SPC).
On Monday, the Supreme People's Procuratorate (SPP) said in a statement that the original conviction, which said that Chen was guilty of intentional homicide and arson, does not make sense given existing evidence.
"I think the result of Chen's case inspires me and many other lawyers. It shows that the SPC and the SPP are actively addressing and rectifying the mistakes," said Wang. "It also shows the progress made by China's judicial system in protecting suspects' rights and the effort made by China to reduce the number of wrongful convictions."
