BEIJING: A Chinese teenager executed after being convicted of murder and rape 18 years ago was declared innocent by a court on Monday, in a rare overturning of a wrongful conviction.

The 18-year-old, named Hugjiltu and also known as Qoysiletu, was found guilty and put to death in Inner Mongolia in 1996, but doubt was cast on the verdict when another man confessed to the crime in 2005.

“The Inner Mongolia Higher People’s Court finds Hugjiltu’s original guilty verdict... is not consistent with the facts and there is insufficient evidence,” the court in Hohhot said in a statement.

“Hugjiltu is found not guilty”. To howls of anguish, the dead man’s mother, father and brother burned a copy of the court decision on his grave, footage on news portal Netease showed.

His brother Zhaoligetu told Sina.com: “My mother wished him ‘rest in peace’and hoped he could reincarnate”. Campaign groups and experts welcomed the court decision and said it was a signal to the rest of the justice system that it must perform better.

China’s courts, controlled by the ruling Communist Party, have a near-100 per cent conviction rate in criminal cases and confessions extracted under dubious conditions are commonplace.

Leaders of the ruling communist party have promised to strengthen the rule of law “with Chinese characteristics”, but experts caution the concept refers to greater central control over the courts, rather than judicial independence.

The court’s deputy president gave Hugjiltu’s parents compensation of $4,850, the official Xinhua News Agency reported. The money was a personal donation by the head of the court, it added, rather than an official payment by the institution.

“This is an amazing thing the court did, to admit that they were wrong, “said Wang Gongyi, deputy director of the research institute of the Ministry of Justice.

“It also sends a clear message to the police and prosecutors around the country: if there’s not enough evidence, don’t impose wrongful convictions,” he said.—AFP

Published in Dawn, December 16th, 2014