Making Wrongdoers Pay

By+Yin+Pumin

on May 5， Lin Qilei， a lawyer with the Beijing-based Ruikai Law Firm， sent out two express letters to the finance departments of central Chinas Henan Province and east Chinas Zhejiang Province， requiring them to publicly release details of funds used for compensating victims in two erroneously convicted cases in their jurisdiction.

Zhao Zuohai， a local farmer in Henan， wrongfully served 10 years in jail on a murder conviction until he was acquitted in May 2010. Authorities gave him 650，000 yuan （$104，130） in compensation. The case in Zhejiang concerns Zhang Hui and his uncle， Zhang Gaoping， who were given compensation of 2.21 million yuan （$354，042） in May 2013 after they were acquitted of a murder charge they had also wrongfully served 10 years in prison for.

“Compensation recovery and accountability are vague under the State Compensation Law. There are no clear stipu- lations， which has led to delays and even failure to pay out，” Lin said.

In the State Compensation Law， there are only clauses stating that after the liable organs give the compensation， they have the responsibility to order functionaries， entrusted organizations or other persons responsible for the gross negligence to pay the compensation in part or in full. Persons responsible for severe negligence shall be punished， according to the law.

Lin suggests setting up a special compensation recovery and accountability mechanism and further perfecting the supervision procedures that could close this loophole.

Seeking the truth

Chinas compensation system is based on the State Compensation Law. The law was first established in 1995 and then amended in 2010.

The amendment grants citizens， legal entities or other organizations greater power to obtain compensation when their lawful rights and interests are infringed upon by state organs or their functionaries as a result of them enforcing their power.

Although China has established a basic state compensation system， it is not transparent enough， Lin said.

Before his two letters on May 5， Lin delivered another request to the Finance Department of north Chinas Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region on April 24 for the details of compensation recovery concerning another case.

Wang Benyu， who was wrongfully sentenced to death with a two-year reprieve for rape and murder， received 1.5 million yuan（$240，300） in compensation in April， after the real murderer confessed.endprint

Wang， a 60-year-old farmer from southwest Chinas Sichuan Province， had worked as a migrant worker in north Chinas Hebei Province and Inner Mongolia since he left his hometown in 1991.

On December 15， 1994， Wangs colleague Li yanming raped and killed a woman in Baotou， Inner Mongolia， and threatened to kill Wang if he reported the crime to the police. Wang helped Li dispose of the body and allowed Li to escape. The next day， the police detained Wang as the primary suspect. Wang was later sentenced to death with a two-year reprieve in November 1996 and all of his appeals were ignored.

In 2012， Li was caught in Beijing for committing other crimes and confessed that he raped and killed the woman in Baotou in 1994. In September 2013， Wangs crime was amended to harboring a fugitive and his sentence was reduced to three years imprisonment， entitling him to compensation for the extra time he should not have served.

“After the ruling that he was to be given compensation， I havent seen any further action from the relevant departments to punish those persons responsible or to recover the compensation from them，” Lin said.

The situation motivated Lin to request that the source of the 1.5-million-yuan compensation be made public as well as the names and job titles of the persons responsible for the wrongful conviction.

On May 18， Lin received replies from Inner Mongolia and Henan， but the responses were not adequate， according to Lin.

The Finance Department of Inner Mongolia replied that they were not involved in sourcing the compensation and suggested Lin seek answers from the finance authorities in Baotou. The department also suggested he apply to the judicial departments of the region or Baotou for further details.

The reply from the Finance Department of Henan said that it had no obligation to publish the details of the compensation for Zhao Zuohais case.

“Ordinary taxpayers have no obligations to pay the bill on behalf of negligent officials. Thats why I decided to press the related authorities to publish the details of how the compensation had been sourced for the three cases，” Lin noted. He said that he will not give up and will continue to press the departments concerned till they give him adequate replies.

Tightening the rules

According to the State Compensation Law， compensation funds are included in the fiscal budgets of the governments at all levels.

State compensation is a big expense. In 2012， the total volume of judicial compensation cases settled nationwide approached 61 million yuan （$9.77 million） and that of administrative compensation cases exceeded 127 million yuan （$20.35 million）.endprint

Zhou Qiang， President of the Supreme Peoples Court， Chinas highest judicial body， revealed that courts nationwide closed 2，045 cases of seeking state compensation involving more than 87.35 million yuan （$13.99 million） . He made the statements at this years full session of the National Peoples Congress， Chinas top legislature， which was held in March.

However， there has been no report about the sources for the compensation. “We dont know where the money came from and if the persons responsible for the case have been made to pay any of the compensation at all，” Lin said.

Experts believe a prerequisite for compensation sourcing is an accountability mechanism. This could be carried out through confirmation from the liable parties that the compensation can be recovered from them， they suggest.

However， there are few open cases of persons responsible for wrongful convictions being held accountable， not to mention the obtaining of compensation from them. According to Beijing Times， the punishments for liable parties are often limited to administrative or Party disciplinary sanctions and there has been no report about individual cases of compensation being paid by responsible parties.

In Zhao Zuohais case， five of the six police officers who were involved in torturing Zhao into falsely admitting to murder， which led to him spending 11 years in jail， were sentenced to prison terms in 2012.

Prosecutors said that Zhao was tortured for 33 days during which he was beaten with clubs and threatened with a pistol in his mouth. The officers also prevented him from sleeping and set off firecrackers on his head.

Zhao was released in May 2010 after the man he was accused of having killed turned up alive.

“I havent heard anything about compensation coming from those responsible，” Zhao admitted to Beijing Times on May 11.

To solve the problem， Jiang Mingan， a professor at the Law School of Peking University， emphasized improving the efficiency of monitoring by peoples congresses at all levels and supervisory departments. Jiang also suggested perfecting compensation recovery and supervisory procedures on a legal basis. He gave time limits for compensation recovery being written into relevant regulations as an example.

ying Songnian， a tenured professor at the China University of Political Science and Law， insisted that all state compensation cases should be made public so as to receive supervision from society and the general populace.“Sunlight is the best disinfectant，” ying said.endprint