Murderer faces execution after public calls prompt retrial

Aug 23, 2011, 4:48 GMT

Beijing - A court in south-western China has sentenced to death a man convicted of murder after an earlier suspended death sentence was deemed too soft, in a controversial move prompted by public calls for his execution, state media said on Tuesday.

The Yunnan Provincial Higher People's Court sentenced Li Changkui, 29, for the second time after provincial prosecutors argued that an appeal sentence by the same court in March was 'too lenient.'

Li deserved the death penalty without reprieve because 'his motivation was evil, his conduct was cruel and the consequences were serious,' the official Xinhua news agency quoted a court statement as saying after Monday's sentence.

The previous sentence by the Yunnan higher court, which suspended the first death sentence by a lower court, had 'triggered a cyber frenzy as internet users called for a harsher punishment,' the agency said.

Subject to good behaviour in prison during the two-year suspension, suspended death sentences are normally commuted to sentences of up to 25 years or life in prison.

Reports said Li confessed to raping and killing a 19-year-old woman who had rejected his marriage proposal, before killing her 3-year-old brother, in May 2009.

The relatives had not forgiven Li and compensation from Li's family was 'not voluntary,' the reports said.

The China Daily newspaper quoted Wang Yong, a lawyer for the victims' family, as saying 'Justice has been done' through the court's decision on Monday.

More than 200 people attended Monday's trial, including several local politicians, the reports said.

But the Global Times newspaper questioned the wisdom of a court retrying a case because of public opinion rather than legal necessity.

'A certain detachment from the public is necessary for the rule of law,' the newspaper said in a commentary.

'Li's destiny is now sealed,' it said. 'From the perspective of the public, the original sentence is maintained. But for the judicial system, can we say it was the right decision?'

China's ruling Communist Party appears to be paying ever greater attention to public opinion, including internet-based campaigns, as it strives to maintain its grip on power.

Li's latest sentence remains subject to a mandatory review by the Supreme People's Court, a requirement introduced in 2007 as part of the government's policy to limit the use of capital punishment.

China is still believed to execute more people annually than the rest of the world put together, but statistics on death sentences and executions are kept secret.

In an annual report in March, London-based Amnesty International said it recorded 527 reported executions in China last year, adding that China was believed to have executed thousands more.

China retains the death penalty for dozens of offences, including drug trafficking, serious corruption and other non-violent crimes.