Case No 7 Huang Xing’s application for state compensation

1. Background

On March 2, 1998, Huang Xing was taken by the Fuzhou People’s Procuratorate for public prosecution at the Fuzhou Intermediate People’s Court on charges of kidnapping and illegal detention. The Fuzhou Court gave two guilty verdicts on Nov 6, 1998 and April 11, 2004. The Fujian Provincial Higher People’s Court returned the case to the Fuzhou Court for retrial. The Fuzhou Court sentenced Huang Xing to the death penalty with a two-year suspension of execution for the crime of kidnapping and to three years in jail for the crime of illegal detention. The sentence was to be served concurrently as a sentence of death with a two-year suspension of execution.

On Nov 25, 2006, the higher court rejected Huang’s appeal and maintained the original judgment. The defendant and his relatives made a further appeal to the higher court and on May 29, 2015, the court decided that Huang was guilty of illegal detention and upheld the sentence of three years in prison for that offence but cancelled the judgment involving kidnapping. Huang was released that day and then applied for state compensation.

From June 2, 1996 to May 29, 2015, a total of 6,936 days, Huang Xing’s personal liberty had been completely restricted. Of those, 5,841 days were beyond the upheld three-year imprisonment for illegal detention.

2. Ruling

The Fujian Provincial Higher People’s Court negotiated with Huang Xing on his application for state compensation. The two sides reached an agreement by which the court paid a total compensation of 1.863384.52 million yuan ($283,620.17), including 1.283384.52 million yuan for violating Huang’s personal liberty and 580,000 yuan for mental injury solatium. The court also took steps to eliminate the negative effect on Huang and rehabilitate his reputation.

3. Significance

In this state compensation case, one of two crimes was proved invalid. The applicant has the right to obtain state compensation for the excessive term of his imprisonment according to the third paragraph of Article 17 of the State Compensation Law.