Death penalty cannot be swayed by public opinion
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Global Times, July 7, 2011
Public supervision can help prevent possible cases of twisting the law. But overly strong one-sided public opinions may risk influencing judicial impartiality, as shown in recent cases.
Recently, the verdict of a case in Zhaotong, Yunnan Province stirred up huge controversy. In 2009, Li Changkui raped Wang Jiafei, a girl in his village,
before killing her and her younger brother because of a dispute with their family. The Intermediate People's Court of Zhaotong sentenced Li to death. Li then appealed to the Higher People's Court of Yunnan Province, which suspended the death sentence with a two-year reprieve.
Netizens have expressed their anger, and compared this case with Yao Jiaxin's, in which a musical college student from Xi'an killed a woman who tried to write down his car plate number after being hit by Yao's car. They regarded it as unacceptable to leave a murderer of two alive while Yao, who killed one person, was executed.
Their voices have been heard, as the higher people's court of Yunnan said the case will be reexamined, taking into consideration public opinion and the appeal from Wang's family.
A court official has made it clear that the higher court commuted Li's sentence with a two-year reprieve because of the Supreme People's Court's latest policy of reducing instances of the death penalty.
This year, 13 non-violent economic crimes were struck from the death penalty list, under the new amendment of the criminal law. In May, the Supreme People's Court stressed that, to reduce the death penalty, those who are not necessarily to be executed immediately should be sentenced to the death penalty with a two-year reprieve. This includes murders caused by marriage, family and neighbor disputes, and those in which a wrongful action by the victim was to blame.
However, Chinese people's traditional mindset of how to handle a murderer has been lagging behind.
It is deeply rooted that the only way to gain justice for the victim is to execute the murderer. Therefore, clashes between public opinion and judicial rulings are inevitable.
We have been seeing an increasing number of cases in which public opinion tried to influence the judgment of homicide cases.
Public supervision is a good thing, but not if the independence of judicial organs becomes affected
Undoubtedly, when the judicial organs are not performing well, the public have a reason to doubt their judgment.
It means all levels of courts need to be more prudent and follow the law more strictly in handling criminal cases, so as to stand up to public scrutiny.
Reducing the death penalty is a long-term task. In addition to efforts from the judicial organs, people's mindsets need to be changed, which demands collective efforts from the government, judicial departments and the media.
