A Wrongful Conviction Makes Headlines in China

Zhang Yuhuan's 27 years in prison make for the longest-known wrongful conviction
By Newser Editors,  Newser Staff
Posted Aug 5, 2020 3:06 PM CDT
A Wrongful Conviction Makes Headlines in China
   (Getty Images)

China's longest-serving wrongfully convicted inmate is now a free man, some 27 years after he was imprisoned for a crime he long maintained he did not commit. Zhang Yuhuan alleged police tortured him into admitting he killed two young boys who were his neighbors in 1993, and a high court that agreed to retry the case last year ruled there wasn't adequate evidence to support his conviction. The BBC reports he and his wife divorced 11 years ago but she kept assisting her ex-husband with his appeal, even as she remarried.

Chinese media captured the 52-year-old's emotional reunion with her and his elderly mother on Tuesday, reports Caixan. He will be receiving as-yet unspecified compensation; the true killer remains unknown. Some context from the BBC: "Observers say China is growing more willing to quash wrongful convictions, but only criminal not political." (More wrongful conviction stories.)

Get the news faster.
Tap to install our app.
X
Install the Newser News app
in two easy steps:
1. Tap in your navigation bar.
2. Tap to Add to Home Screen.

X