Murdered man reappears after a decade

In hiding for a decade, Zhao feared he had killed the man now serving 10 of a 29-year sentence for his alleged murder. The supposed killer, Zhao Zouhai, was arrested about a year after the fight and “confessed” to the murder after a headless corpse was found nearby.

His confession came after being tortured by the police who forced him to drink chili water and set off fireworks over his head. He narrowly escaped execution, but still paid dearly for this crime which he did not commit. While in prison, his wife left him for another man and three of his four children were adopted by other families.

This raises many concerns about police tactics when it comes to extracting confessions. Due to the fact that the Chinese court system relies heavily on confessions, police are given carte blanche when it comes to how these confessions are obtained. The impetus is to seal the case (and often the life of the alleged accuser, regardless of guilt or innocence).

The power of the Chinese police and a recent series of unexplained deaths have caused a rebellion among some brave reformers bolstered by the support of the Ministry of Justice. The goal is to seize control of detention centers, which are currently under the jurisdiction of the police.

After another incident involving a woman who similarly reappeared several years after her husband was jailed for her murder, an audit of court system cases involving confessions has finally been ordered. Will justice ever come in time for those falsely accused to pick up the pieces of their shattered lives? Only time (and less police intervention) will tell.


/Weird Asia News/