BEIJING, June 12 (Xinhua) -- China's supreme court on Thursday annulled the death penalty for two people convicted of forcing into prostitution the daughter of a social campaigner.
Zhou Junhui and Qin Xing, who were found guilty of rape, organizing prostitution and forcing others into prostitution, will have their cases retried at the Hunan provincial higher court.
The case drew considerable attention as the victim's mother, Tang Hui, was put into China's now defunct reeducation through labor program for petitioning for harsher punishments for Zhou and Qin.
The annulment of the death sentences is a new twist in the ordeal suffered by Tang, who was put in a labor camp in Yongzhou of Hunan for "seriously disturbing social order and exerting a negative impact on society" after protesting in front of local government buildings in August 2012. She was later sentenced to 18 months in the camp, but was released eight days later amid a public outcry urging her release.
In July, a court in Hunan ruled in her favor when she sued the local authority for infringing her freedom and causing her psychological damage.
Her case helped bring about the abolition of the reeducation through labor program late last year.
A collegiate bench of the Supreme People's Court (SPC) made the decision to annul the death penalty after checking all the materials of the case and questioning Zhou, Qin, and other defendants in the case, as well as listening to opinions of defense lawyers, the victim and her relatives.
The bench also conducted investigations in Hunan and reviewed the factual evidence, trial procedure, and the law that was applied in the first and second instance of the case.
Zhou and Qin were sentenced to death on June 5, 2012 by the Hunan Provincial People's Higher Court for forcing people into prostitution.
Source: Xinhua, June 12, 2014
