Justice at last

My story of 2016 came as the year drew to a close. It featured Zhang Huanzhi, a Hebei province native who spent more than 20 years attempting to clear her dead son's name, and finally succeeded.

In 1994, Zhang's son, 21-year-old Nie Shubin, was executed after being convicted of rape and murder. Shortly after the execution, Zhang, who refused to believe that her son committed the crimes, appealed the verdict in the hope of quashing the conviction.

The case returned to the public eye in 2005, when a man named Wang Shujin was arrested for an alleged rape and murder.