Lin Min

    linmin67@126.com

    ONLY the victim’s family knows the full gravity of the consequences of a miscarriage of justice. A young life wrongfully taken away. A helpless, grieved family fighting for years, perhaps decades, for justice.

    Nie Shubin was finally declared innocent Friday, 21 years after he was executed by a firing squad for a crime he did not commit: raping and killing a woman in a corn field in Shijiazhuang, Hebei Province.

    No one would question the conviction until serial killer Wang Shujin confessed in 2005 that he was the actual murderer, 10 years after Nie’s execution. It took an additional 11 years for Nie’s conviction to be overturned because some powerful officials in Hebei had tried every means to prevent the case from being retried.

    Although Nie’s father gracefully said justice delayed is still justice, few would disagree that in this case, justice came too late, given the fact that enormous efforts were made to cover up Wang’s confession and prevent Nie’s parents from seeking a redress.

    If not for some heroes who stuck to their conscience, Nie might not have had his name cleared.

    The first hero is Zheng Chengyue, a police officer who was the first law enforcement officer to cast doubt on Nie’s conviction. Zheng, who was a chief investigator in Wang’s case, insisted Nie’s case was deeply flawed after finding evidence supporting Wang’s confession. Zheng was forced to retire at 49, apparently because he insisted on not accepting Hebei authorities’ claim that Nie’s conviction was flawless.

    Another hero is Ma Yunlong, then acting editor-in-chief of the Henan Business Daily, who asked reporters Chu Yang and Fan Youfeng to investigate Wang’s confession in 2005, and published the first news story raising questions about Nie’s conviction. Ma also had the report sent to more than 100 newspapers around the country for republication, to attract more public attention to the case and to make it impossible for the report to be contained by Hebei officials.

    Chu and Fan’s reports not only brought attention from the public but also empowered Nie’s parents to act. When Fan first interviewed Nie’s mother Zhang Huanzhi 11 years ago, she was living a calm life thinking judges and police were always right.

    Other heroes include Peking University law professor He Weifang and other legal experts who have repeatedly called for a retrial of Nie’s case, even when under attack by some people who called He and others pro-Western “public intellectuals” who would seize every chance to criticize China. He has over the years published more than 40 articles dissecting the numerous flaws in evidence and procedure in Nie’s case and urging the supreme people’s court to step in.

    While saluting these heroes for making Nie’s exoneration possible, we have to face the fact that many other wrongly convicted people may never have the chance to have their cases reheard.

    As Ma pointed out, high officials in Hebei had been trying very hard to prevent Nie’s case from being revisited. Ma saw the fall of Zhou Benshun, former Hebei Party chief, and Zhang Yue, former top official in charge of Hebei’s law and order, as the turning point.

    In recent years, China has made great progress in curbing judiciary misconduct, launching reforms to make police, prosecutors and judges accountable for their handling of suspects and cases. New laws and regulations have been issued to prevent tortured confessions, corruption and miscarriages of justice. However, more needs to be done to establish a truly independent, accountable judiciary system. It takes time for the rule of law to take root, and chronic political interference in court rulings can hardly be eradicated overnight.

    Nie’s exoneration has paved the way for his parents to seek State compensation and an investigation into official misconduct and crime. Those responsible for his wrongful execution and his parent’s suffering must be brought to justice, no matter who they are.

    Nie was 21 years old when he was wrongfully executed. One of his father’s legs was paralyzed in an attempt to commit suicide after learning of his execution. Justice must be served.