Reforms may end 20-year legal fight

In 1995, Nie Shubin was executed after being convicted of a crime his family says he did not commit. Now, changes to the legal system could signal the end of a two-decade-long battle for a posthumous pardon, report Luo Wangshu in Shijiazhuang, and Cao Yin in Beijing.

After spending 20 years fighting to clear her dead son's name, Zhang Huanzhi is hopeful that a court will soon quash his conviction and grant a posthumous pardon.

Nie Shubin was executed in 1995 at age 21, having been convicted of raping and murdering a 38-year-old woman in Shijiazhuang, capital of Hebei province, the previous year. The woman cannot be named for legal reasons.