Courts improve procedures

The apology made by the Anhui provincial high people's court to 19 people who were wrongly convicted for fraudulent fundraising shows it is seeking to correct its past wrong rulings. But a set of fair and equitable judicial procedures is needed to prevent such judicial mistakes.

Some 39 defendants were prosecuted by the procuratorate in Bozhou in the province in East China for fraud, illegal fundraising and bribery in January 2010. In March, the city's intermediate court sentenced them to a range of prison terms. The defendants appealed to the provincial high court, but it gave its ruling in July 2012, favoring the original judgment, and submitted the verdict to the Supreme People's Court in Beijing for approval.

However, the supreme court repealed the sentence and returned the case for a retrial due to lack of evidence. In the case's retrial by Bozhou's intermediate court in July 2014, the prosecution of 19 of the 39 defendants was withdrawn.