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Chinese police officers
rehearsing execution procedures |
The death sentence handed last month to businesswoman Wu Ying for fraud has prompted a rare unanimous plea for mercy from the mainland public, and rarer still, some rational discussions on the use of capital punishment.
If the public's concerns are heeded, this could perhaps also provide impetus for a bolder change to death sentence reviews in the upcoming amendment of the Criminal Procedure Law.
The 29-year-old Wu, who started her own hair salon at the age of 15 and went on to become the billionaire owner of Bense Holding Group in Zhejiang , was arrested in 2007 and convicted in 2009 for illegally collecting public funds worth up to 770 million yuan (HK$947.6 million) with the intention to defraud.
More recently, on January 18, the Zhejiang High Court upheld the death sentence, shooting down defence lawyers' arguments that Wu was only borrowing money for an overambitious business that ultimately failed. Now her life is in the hands of the Supreme People's Court, which will hold a final review of the death sentence soon.
Wu's case has drawn widespread sympathy from the mainland public for several reasons. Compared to most suspended death sentences imposed on corrupt officials in recent years, Wu's punishment seems unnecessarily harsh. [O]ne fundamental question seems most disturbing to the public: why must someone die for committing an economic crime that did not physically harm others?
The authorities have taken various steps in recent years towards easing back on capital punishment, in line with international trends. One such step in February last year was cutting the list of
crimes punishable by death to 55 from 68. Those trimmed off the list were mostly economic and non-violent crimes where the death penalty was rarely used.
The supreme court has also regained the final say on all death sentences, with a new review procedure introduced in 2007, adding an extra layer of judicial oversight before anyone is executed. Still, China ranks No1 in the world in terms of the number of crimes punishable by death and the number of annual executions - estimated in the thousands by some human rights groups. The actual figure remains a state secret.
The authorities have said their ultimate goal is to abolish capital punishment - but the process should be gradual. Their rationale for this is that the crime rate is still high, the country is still in an economic transition and the public still rely on the death penalty as a just punishment for certain crimes.
Related articles:
Jan 20, 2012
The Zhejiang Provincial Higher People's Court Wednesday upheld the death penalty for Wu Ying, the 31-year-old former owner of the Bense Holding Group. Wu, born to a farmer's family, was the sixth-richest woman in the ...
Dec 19, 2009
The 28-year-old Wu Ying started out a decade ago with a single beauty salon but eventually built up a holding group, Bense Holdings, that was known around the country, the state-run Xinhua News Agency reported.
Dec 02, 2011
Recommended article: "Photos: The final 12 hours of Chinese women on death row", Ministry of Tofu, November 29, 2011. December 11, 2011 UPDATE. Truth about laughing prisoner who wanted to look her best to be shot ...
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