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Four acquitted after 22 years in jail

Xinhua, February 4, 2016 Adjust font size:

The Higher People's Court of Fujian Province in east China on Thursday announced the acquittal of four defendants who had been sentenced to death with a stay of execution for a murder-robbery case in 1994.

In January 1994, a 66-year-old man was found murdered at his home in Putian City.

Xu Jinlong, Zhang Meilai, Xu Yusen and Cai Jinsen who lived nearby were soon identified as suspects and detained.They were sentenced to death suspended for two years in 1999.

All four appealed the verdict and the provincial procuratorate finally made a retrial proposal in Feb. 2014 on the basis of insufficient evidence.

The Higher People's Court of Fujian re-heard the case on Thursday in Putian City and found some witness testimony contradictory and possible forgery of the finger prints of a key witness.

The original sentences were abrogated in court and the defendants released. Endi