Belated justice for an innocent man

Man returns to a life he barely recognises after being jailed 27 years for a crime he did not commit.

CLAD in a black and white striped shirt and black pants, Zhang Yuhuan set foot in Zhangjiacun again after 27 years.

This village in Jiangxi province where he called home has changed so much since he left.

Gone is the muddy path leading to the village. instead it is now a tarred road. Most of the villagers he met are strangers to him.

Zhang, 53, has just been released from prison after the court overturned its ruling and acquitted him of a murder that took place in 1993.

He is the longest-serving wrongfully convicted inmate in China’s history, spending 9,778 days in detention.

His high-profile release, with the high court apologising for the wrongful conviction, received overwhelming attention from people throughout the country.

Upon his return to the village on Aug 4, Zhang was greeted by local leaders and media practitioners.

His mother and two sons were among the crowd but he could not recognise any of them.

“My sons are grown-ups now and my mother has aged a lot.

“I cannot recognise my home too (as part of it has collapsed), ” he said nervously.

Over the years, only his younger son visited him twice while the ex-wife rarely saw him in prison.

His mother and sons moved to Fujian province after she remarried in 1999 as she needed a companion to help take care of the children.

As Zhang entered his home, his mother showed him his new bed.

“You have been through injustice and sufferings, ” the 83-year-old said while looking at the face she long missed, her son who was taken away from her as a murder suspect.

In October 1993, villagers received shocking news of two boys – aged four and six – being strangled to death and their bodies dumped at a nearby reservoir.

Three days after that, Zhang – who was happily married for five years and gifted with two children – was taken away on suspicion that he committed the crime.

He never returned.

It was alleged that Zhang saw one of the boys raking up the soil at his house and slapped him twice but the kid fought back.

He dragged the boy into the storeroom and killed him.

As he came out, he bumped into the second boy and killed him too as he was worried that his crime would be exposed.

In January 1995, he was sentenced to death with a two-year reprieve, which could be commuted to life imprisonment.

Zhang appealed against the sentence, claiming he was forced to admit to the killings after being tortured by the police during the interrogations.

His case was heard again in 2001 but the court upheld the original sentence.

Zhang and his family did not give up hope.

They continued to appeal against the sentence with Zhang writing to the government departments and agencies, relating his injustice and grievance.

He sent out at least 400 letters while in jail.

In July last year, the Jiangxi People’s High Court began a retrial of his case.

Last Tuesday, the court overturned the original ruling and found Zhang not guilty as the chain of evidence in his case was incomplete and not strong enough to support the conviction.

He was released immediately.

Zhang has described his “new life” as exciting and interesting, likening it to travelling in a time machine to the future.

He has so much to learn.

“The world has changed, everything is new to me.

“I have not used a handphone before but I have seen the prison wardens using their mobile, ” he told the local media.

His family is planning to apply for a 7 million yuan (RM4.24mil) compensation. But for Zhang, it does not matter any more.

He wants to make up for the lost time that he was unable to see his children grow up and take care of his parents.

“Money cannot buy back what I have lost, ” he said.

However, he still hoped to get the money to repair his house and improved his family’s living conditions.

Law professor of Shanghai Administration Institute Ruan Chuansheng told China Daily that correcting a wrongful conviction was a result of the advancement of the rule of law in the country.

To prevent the repeat of such incident, he urged the judicial authorities to remove and exclude evidence that were obtained improperly including those gained by torture.

Does it still matter who brutally murdered the two boys? I would say yes.

The murderer may have escaped now, I believed justice will prevail and he or she will have to pay for the sin when Judgment Day comes.