Wrongfully detained man makes application for 22M yuan in State compensation

Zhang Yuhuan, a man from Jiangxi province who had his name cleared in August after 27 years of wrongful detention, applied for State compensation of more than 22.34 million yuan ($3.3 million) on Wednesday.

The compensation application, which has been submitted to the Jiangxi High People's Court, consists of 10.17 million yuan for Zhang's wrongful detention, 1 million yuan for his following medical treatment, 10.17 million yuan for mental anguish and 1 million yuan for his expenses on appeal, according to Zhang's lawyer Cheng Guangxin.

"My client's freedom had been harmed every minute since he was wrongly detained, so the compensation for the wrongful detention, I think, should be tripled compared with people losing the freedom after working eight hours per day," Cheng said.

In the application, Zhang noted: "No one is willing to exchange 27 years of freedom for compensation of 5 million or 10 million yuan. If the compensation is too low, it will not show justice, ease mental damage caused by the wrongful detention nor prevent wrongful conviction."

Given the long-term wrongful detention brought injuries to Zhang's feet, legs and hands as well as caused his family members to spend a lot in helping him appeal, Zhang also asked for 1 million yuan for supporting his medical fees and another 1 million yuan for paying the costs of appeal, Cheng explained.

Zhang also demanded the high court publicly apologize, to restore his reputation and eliminate the ill effects caused by the wrongful conviction, Cheng added.

On Aug 4, the high court overturned the original ruling in which Zhang was given a suspended death sentence for intentional homicide, and found the 52-year-old not guilty because the chain of evidence in his case was incomplete and not strong enough to prove his conviction.

Zhang was freed on that day and returned home.

Zhang, a villager from Jinxian county in Nanchang, capital of Jiangxi, was reportedly the longest-serving wrongfully convicted inmate in the country.

His case dates back to 1993, when two boys' bodies were found in a reservoir in a village in Jinxian, and Zhang was identified as the suspect and detained a few days later.

In January 1995, the Nanchang Intermediate People's Court sentenced Zhang, who was the neighbor of the two victims, to death with a two-year reprieve for the crime of intentional homicide, meaning his sentence would be commuted to life imprisonment if he did not make new offenses during the two-year probation.

Zhang disagreed with the ruling and appealed to a higher court, saying he was tortured by police during interrogation.

Two months later, the high court returned the case to the lower court, ordering it to retry the case due to insufficient evidence.

But the retrial was not opened until November 2001, and the intermediate court upheld the original verdict.

Zhang appealed to the high court again, but this time his appeal was rejected.

After Zhang and his family members frequently appealed, the high court decided to rehear the case, and reopened the hearing on July 9.