16 years of appeals: Wrongly convicted man free at last
2017-04-10 20:08 GMT+81042km to Beijing
EditorAi Yan
After serving 16 years of life imprisonment and sending out over 5,000 appeal letters, Yang Dewu, who was wrongfully convicted as the murderer of his mother-in-law in 2000, has finally won his freedom back.
Yang, now 51, was a worker at a local kiln factory in Dongqi village, Wuhu City of east China’s Anhui Province. But his destiny was changed forever on July 14, 2000.
He returned home from a night shift to find his mother-in-law suffocated to death with a pillow, and a quilt covering her head. The windows of his house were levered open.
Yang Dewu, after his release from prison, recalls what the village used to be. /Photo by Chongqing Morning Post
He sought help from village officials, and reported the death to the police. But his nightmare had only just begun. After telling the police several times how he discovered the corpse, he was detained on July 16, 2000.
According to Yang, the police excluded the possibility of burglary and murder, based on evidence they collected from the site. So Yang was locked up as the prime suspect. The police reckoned that Yang had a motive to kill his mother-in-law. His wife left him and moved to a different city to work in 1999, leaving her mother completely in his care.
But Yang Dewu said that he had maintained a good relationship with his mother-in-law, adding that he once rescued her from a flood. “If I hated her, I could have left her to be drowned during the flood."
However, no one bought his explanation. He was convicted of murder on November 14 that year, and was sentenced to death with a two-year reprieve. His appeal to the Higher People’s Court of Anhui Province was rejected in 2001.
Yang Dewu's notebook is filled with details about the appeal letters he sent out over 16 years. /Photo by Chongqing Morning Post
The appeal's process became the most important part of Yang Dewu’s life in prison. He collected everything possible about wrongful convictions and how they were overturned in a notebook, and spent most of the money his daughter and brother sent to him on stationary and stamps.
“The other people would take a break after doing their work, but I would never rest: I wrote the appeals,” said Yang.
In 2004, he got the first reply from the People’s Procuratorate of Anhui Province, promising that they would recommend that the provincial higher court review his case.
According to Yuan Xiaozong, prosecutor in charge of reviewing Yang’s case, there were contradictions between Yang’s confession and the evidence collected on site, especially concerning the time of the crime. Yuan believed that Yang Dewu had no time to commit the murder.
The material Yang Dewu collected for his appeal letters. /Photo by Chongqing Morning Post
Yang recalled that, during the interrogation, he was exhausted and tortured to confess.
“I was not allowed to sleep or drink for days, and I could not bear it any more. I felt so faint that the only thing in my mind was seeking comfort,” recalled Yang.
On August 8, 2016, after receiving the third suggestion from the local procuratorate, the Higher People’s Court of Anhui decided to review the case. On November 11 the same year, Yang was cleared of all charges and released from prison.
Screenshot of the appeal letters Yang Dewu sent out. /Photo by CCTV's interview One On One
“When I returned, my mother was 80 years old. She was so aged that I could not even accept it. I remember when I was jailed, my kid was only six or seven years old,” said Yang in tears.
He told everyone in his village about his release, in the hope that as many people as possible could get to know that he was innocent. “I felt like an outsider, because there were so many strangers to me there,” said Yang.
Now, Yang Dewu lives with his brother and mother. After 16 years behind bars, he has tried very hard to adapt to his new life and the changed world. But there is still one thing that he cannot let go easily.
Screenshot from CCTV's One On One interview with Yang Dewu. /Photo by CCTV's One on One
“I want to tell my ex-wife that I was wrongly convicted, and I was innocent. It is not her fault to misunderstand me, and I cannot blame her for that,” Yang said. And he also hopes that the police will bring the real criminal to justice.
Yang has submitted an application for state compensation, and asked for those who investigated the case 16 years ago to be held accountable.