Speedy Trail and Death Sentence for Accused Cop-Killer
Official news agency Xinhua reported today on the death sentence handed down to Yang Jia, less than one week after his closed-door murder trial began. (An abridged English version of the Xinhua's exclusive report is available here).
For those new to the case, on July 1, Yang, a 28-year-old unemployed Beijing resident, went on a stabbing spree against police in Shanghai, killing six and injuring another four.
Such violent rampages are extremely unusual in China. But the curious twist in Yang's case was the amount of public sympathy aroused by the accused cop-killer, at least among those who like to speak out on blogs and online discussion forums. Digging into the back story of Yang's prior run-in with police, and his failed attempt to obtain compensation for his ordeal, some netizens held him up as a victim/hero, one man fighting back against an unjust system.
Yang was charged with premeditated murder on July 17 but his trial was postponed until after the Olympics. Xinhua reported that the prosecutors said that Yang had confessed to the killings and that a court assessment of Yang's mental state found that he was fit to stand trial.
Although online discussion of Yang's case has recently been muted, Reuters reports that today over a dozen people gathered outside the Shanghai No. 2 Intermediate People's Court, but were denied an opportunity to hear the verdict being handed down.
'Why is this so secret? The government should make this more open so justice can be served,' one man outside the courthouse, surnamed Wang, told Reuters. 'Now people are wondering whether this trial was conducted fairly or not.'
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[ 本帖最后由 chrislau2001 于 2008-9-4 08:57 编辑 ] |
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