A Chinese court has rejected an appeal by Yang Jia who is facing the death penalty.

A couple of months ago the 28-year-old was sentenced to death for the premeditated murder of six police officers, after a secret closed trial earlier this month.

His case has attracted widespread public sympathy, and has sparked debate about the police treatment of suspects and the fairness of the justice system.

There have been claims that Yang Jia was motivated by revenge, after allegedly being beaten and mistreated at the same police station in an earlier incident.

A lightning rod

A court rejected Yang Jia's appeal on Monday and the presiding judge would now seek approval from China's Supreme People's Court for the execution, reports AFP.

” …"The evidence is very clear, what Yang Jia did was extremely cruel and it had a very bad influence on society," the judge said …”

The case has become a lightning rod for controversy by raising questions about police harassment, with some regarding him as a victim who stood up to abuse commonly suffered by marginalised people in China, writes AFP.

” In a rare protest outside the Shanghai's Higher People's Court as the appeal began last week, about a dozen protesters donned T-shirts with Yang's face before they were quickly taken away by police …”

Cruel and inhuman

Amnesty International is opposed to the death penalty in all circumstances, no matter what the crime, regardless of guilt or innocence. Execution is inhuman and cruel, and is never right.

Our supporters have been writing letters to the China’s Minister of Justice calling for Yang Jia’s sentence to be overturned. Add your voice to the call.