Man cleared of intentional homicide applies for more compensation

Wu Chunhong, a villager from Henan province who had his name cleared in April after evidence related to his intentional homicide conviction was deemed insufficient, has reapplied for State compensation, arguing that the amount he received was too low.

Wu applied to the Supreme People's Court, China's top court, last week for reconsideration of the State compensation given by a court in Henan early this month.

"The nation's top court informed us it has accepted our application and filed the case for review on Tuesday morning," Wu Yunlei, Wu's son, said.

On Aug 6, Wu Chunhong obtained about 2.62 million ($377,000) in compensation from the Henan High People's Court, which included 1.9 million yuan for his wrongful detention and 680,000 yuan for his mental anguish.

"But my father and our family were unhappy with the payment, as it couldn't help my father with some medical problems after long-term wrongful detention and live a normal life," Wu Yunlei said. "So we applied for 18.7 million yuan in compensation again, the same amount that my dad applied for just after he was acquitted."

On April 1, more than 15 years after Wu Chunhong was wrongly convicted, the high court in Henan found the 50-year-old not guilty, overturning the original verdict that sentenced him to life in prison for intentional killing because the chain of evidence in the case was incomplete and did not support his conviction.

Wu's case dates back to Nov 15, 2004, when a 3-year-old boy in Zhougang village, Shangqiu, Henan, died after eating homemade food containing poisoned flour. His elder brother fell ill and was admitted to hospital but recovered.

A week later, Wu, who lived in the same village, was identified as the suspect in the child's death and detained.

He was given a suspended death sentence for intentional homicide in 2005 by the Shangqiu Intermediate People's Court, but the high court ordered a retrial after Wu appealed.

Over the next three years, the intermediate court handed down the same sentence to Wu twice, but the high court rejected both verdicts and sent the case back to the lower court each time.

In 2008, Wu was sentenced to life imprisonment, with the high court upholding that ruling.

Ten years later, after frequent appeals from Wu's family, the Supreme People's Court ordered the high court in Henan to retry the case. The case was reheard last year.