Calls to stop Yang Jia’s execution

KimB 27 October 2008, 01:02PM

Chinese man Yang Jia could be put to death within a little as a week.

Last week the 28-year-old lost an appeal against his death sentence, and his case will have now gone to the Supreme People's Court for approval. Once the court ratifies the sentence Yang Jia's execution could quickly follow.

Amnesty International is opposed to the use of the death penalty in all cases, no matter what the circumstances, whether the accused is guilty or innocent it is irrelevant. Join us in writing to the Chinese authorities calling for the sentence to be commuted to a term imprisonment

Yang Jia was last month convicted, at a closed trial, of the 1 July murder of six policemen in Shanghai's Zhabei district police station. The case has sparked extensive public sympathy and debate about the police treatment of suspects and the fairness of the justice system.

Conflict of interest claim

During the trial, Yang Jia was represented by two lawyers chosen by a Shanghai lawyers' association. Court authorities have rejected claims by a group of Beijing lawyers that one of Yang Jia's lawyers – Xie Youming – had a conflict of interest because he had also acted for the Zhabei district police, whose officers were killed in the attack Yang Jia was convicted of.

Court authorities have claimed Yang Jia approved the lawyers.

However, his mother has been missing since shortly after his arrest and local and international press reports suggest she tried to appoint different lawyers to represent her son.

An absolute minimum

China executes more people each year than any other country in the world, but the official statistics are classified as state secrets.

Amnesty International recorded 470 executions in China last year, but this is an absolute minimum, based on publicly available reports. The US-based Dui Hua Foundation estimates that 6,000 people were executed that year, based on figures obtained from local officials.

The Chinese press has reported on a number of cases in the last few years where innocent people have been put to death after unfair trials.

About the Author

This blog entry was created by KimB and does not necessarily represent the position or opinion of Amnesty International Australia.

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