China acquits 1,603 defendants in two years

A total of 1,603 criminal defendants were declared innocent by Chinese courts from the beginning of 2013 to the end of 2014, the Supreme People's Procuratorate (SPP) said on Monday.

More than 1,800 cases involving extended detention were handled during the same period, said Sun Qian, vice president of the SPP at a press conference.

Several high-profile wrongful convictions revealed in recent years have harmed equity and justice, said Sun.

"The fundamental reason for miscarriages of justice lies in the lack of faith in human rights protection," Sun said. "Illegally obtaining evidence, extracting confessions by torture and other violations have been seen when judicial officials handled criminal cases."

The SPP has taken measures to avoid wrongful convictions, including implementing the principles of presumption of innocence and no punishment in doubtful cases, excluding illegally obtained evidence and protecting lawyers' right to defense, Sun said.

A few wrongfully executed convicts have been exonerated recently. In one case, a young man who had been found guilty of rape and murder and executed in 1996 was finally declared innocent last December by a court in Inner Mongolia. Endi